Where I'm meant to be
by UnderTheJackPine
Summary: She was shy, quiet, and always alone. He was the first person to ever really reach out a hand to her, but he had secrets, secrets that would change her life forever. HxOC. Post Phantom Rising.
1. Chapter 1

Hello all,

This is my first fanfiction, I hope you enjoy and please give me any feedback you feel would be appropriate to help my writing.

I do not own Class of the Titans

**Chapter 1**

24-36-10 was spun into the dial of a pad lock. Pull, pull, reef. Opal let out an exasperated sigh when the lock held fast, and looked down to the combo scribbled on a torn sticky note for the sixth time. She stared at it for a moment, brushing her tight blonde curls out of her face, tucking them behind her ear only to have them spring back a moment later. Tediously she entered the combination for her locker… again. Pull, pull, reef.

With a frustrated groan she tossed the paper down, turning on her heel to head back to the secretary's office and request some bolt cutters. She twirled smack first into the opened door of the neighboring locker. With an irritated grumble she rubbed her nose. So it was going to be one of _those_ days. Before she began walking again she took one large step away from the lockers and out into the hallway, but something caught her arm. Rolling her eyes Opal glanced down, reaching with her opposite hand to untangle herself from that blasted locker door, but instead of finding her shirt snagged she found a hand.

"Are you okay?" that must have been the hand's owner. She looked up expecting to meet eyes, but instead found herself staring at a well toned chest. Ah, yes, the big one, he was one of those seven scholarship students, she had seen him and his friends around. He was on a wrestling scholarship, if she remembered correctly. Their group was exclusive, composed of a rather odd bundle of people to be found together. Opal had only ever passed them by in the hallways. There were some ridiculous rumors floating around about him and his friends but Opal never took any of them as fact.

She was sure he had never heard anything about her. She was quiet, always stayed by herself. There was no need for him to have ever had any experience with her, she knew he was in her grade, but they had never shared a class together. She felt that way about most of her peers, not just him and his group of scholarship students, all of the kids in her grade. She sat in the background and watched, learning most of their name while none returned the favour, and honestly she was completely content with that.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," she brushed him off.

"Is there something the matter?" he dropped his hand to point over at her locker.

"I just have the wrong combination," she brushed her bangs away again in a frustrated swipe. The first day of school was always so infuriating, why couldn't they just keep their old lockers, why did everything have to be switched up every single September?

"Let me try," he swung his door closed to step over and take the lock in his palm, "What's your combo?"

"24-36-10," she watched his thumb spin the dial around the face of the lock. Pull, pull, reef. Only he stripped the mechanism apart with the horrid screech of ripping metal. Opal didn't even try to keep the surprise from her face, glancing to this huge man for his reaction. Still looking down at the broken lock, a modest smile pulled on his lips.

"Oops," he laughed nervously, offering her the remains. Still in a complete state of shock she held her hand out for him to dump the shambles into. How was the secretary going to believe this?

"Thanks?" she mumbled turning to walk down the hall, her eyes on the contents of her hand rather than where she was going.

* * *

Alphabetical order, seriously, why did every English teacher insist on the arrangement? Opal tapped her foot at the front of the room with the mob of other students waiting for their seat. The teacher was revered among her peers as an incompetent pushover, very nearing his years of retirement, or maybe he already passed them. She didn't mind so much that Rice would be her teacher for her senior year. His lax marking would make applying to those universities easier. In that respect she could use all the help she could get.

"We'll skip that desk," Rice had said and then pointed to the one behind it, in the very far corner of the room as he called Opal's name. She took her seat, seemingly isolated from the rest of the class by its location and the empty desk in front. All well, she wasn't that talkative of a person anyways. Go to school, listen to the lectures while you scribble lyrics instead of notes and then head home, simple.

She stared out the window while she waited for the remainder of her classmates to be assigned seats. The warm breeze of a soon fleeting summer floated in through the screen, bringing with it the orchestra of rustling leaves and the chorus of singing cicadas. It wouldn't be long until the Pacific wafted in the rainy winters of the British Columbia coast. She hung onto the peaceful music as Rice began the tedious procedure of handing out textbooks. When he finally was able to begin a lecture he was interrupted not two minutes in.

"Sorry," was the muttered response from the herculean teen Opal had met for the first time face to face not even an hour ago. He handed over a late slip and then searched for an open desk, Rice pointing out the one he had skipped during assignment. He smiled a thank you and headed over, pulling his phone out the moment he sat to fire off a text. The blue device buzzed quietly in his pocket from the vibration and he laughed lightly when he flipped it open.

Opal studied the broad expanse of his back and the soft curls on top his head, trying to figure out what her opinion on him was. She always brushed away the outrageous whispers about him and his friends. That was because she had never really interacted with any of them, but what kind of person could rip open a padlock? It just wasn't possible, even with a build like his. With a huff she flipped open her notebook to begin writing, but upon looking up to the blackboard she found the entire left hand side blocked. Right, put the five foot nothing girl behind the six foot everything guy, yes, brilliant. She discarded her book and rested her chin in her palm as her mind slowly drifted to anywhere but the room she was in.

* * *

Herry had found there was always two groups one could land in on the first day back to school after summer break. The first group was the one Jay was in, excited to return and rejuvenated by the settling of a new routine. Herry did not belong in that group. No, no, he was exhausted from his four hours of sleep, late summer nights was a hard habit to kick. Upon returning to the brownstone he dragged his feet up the stairs and collapsed in his bed. This is where the majority of people landed, in the second group. Dreading the start of a new semester, the promise of impending due dates and nights full of frustrated studying.

"Herry!" his door swung open and a laptop was plopped down beside his head. Herry groaned and flipped the other way, the springs in the mattress creaking as he shifted. He had gone to bed before Odie the night prior, how was he not conked out in his own bed?

"Come on man, check out this new application I added to Spartan Heroes," the smaller man insisted.

"Later, I need some sleep," he burrowed his head under his pillow, hoping to block out more than the late afternoon sun.

"Ugh," Odie huffed and gathered his laptop, "fine." Herry let out a sigh of relief, his muscles dully aching in their moments rest after a tough workout with his mentor. He lay in the blissful state between consciousness and sleep, nestled in a cozy cocoon of pillows and blankets. The most relaxing part of his day yet. This is what had gotten him out of bed that morning in the first place, the promise he would return to it as soon as possible. As he rested he reflected on the day's events. The morning hadn't really started off that well. He had completely busted that girl's lock. He could still remember the shocked look she had given him, blue eyes wide, lips parted. Maybe he should tell Jay about that one, she defiantly had to be wondering about how he managed to break it, but then again that might only worry the boy more.

With a deep sigh he rolled to his back and tried to clear his mind to allow sleep to wash over him, but that girl's shocked expression jumped right back into his head. No, he wasn't going to tell Jay, he would just stress about it and what's done is done. Maybe he would take Odie up on that game, better than that blonde badgering his conscious.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next morning Opal went to the school office to be assigned a new locker. Now she found herself in the deserted back hallway of the school in front of a dented locker that looked as if it hadn't been used in a decade. The door didn't even fit in the frame properly. If god damn Six Foot Everything hadn't demolished her lock she wouldn't even be in this situation. Maybe she would just take the lock off this one and reclaim her old one. She hummed for a moment as she contemplated it and decided the risk of getting caught was minimal. Mind made she began to load all her books into her messenger bag. As she was nudging the locker shut she was caught off guard by the creaking of a door. Looking down the hallway she saw the one in the polo, the preppy one walk out of the janitor's closet… surely not?

Opal squinted at the boy's back as he strolled off down the hall. It was obvious that he and the strawberry blonde were together, maybe they had used the closet's remote location for some alone time. She waited to see if the girl would leave, after five minutes she figured not. Weird. Maybe she had left the scene first and Opal only heard him leave. Curious she padded over to the door to investigate. Turning the doorknob she found it locked, but there was no place for a key. Upon closer inspection Opal noticed a panel above the doorknob. Carefully she ran her fingers over the strange depression. She drew her brows together and then just shook her head. She would go insane wondering about it, so she huffed and turned to walk to class.

Rounding the door into homeroom she was reminded of her impediment the last class. Six Foot Everything was staring out the window, chewing on the end of his pencil, slouched in his seat with his feet propped up on the desk chair in front of him. Slowly she walked over to her seat, hovered beside his desk for a moment, but he took no notice, completely lost in his own skull.

"Excuse me," She brushed her bangs from her face in a nervous swipe. He swiveled his head on his palm, lifting his pencil eraser from between his teeth.

"Oh, hey," his face lit up with a smile, clearly recognizing her.

"Would you mind switching seats with me?" She asked and then sheepishly added, "I can't, uh, see over you."

"No problem," he smiled again, collecting his books to shift back a desk. With a sigh of relief Opal dropped down into her new desk. After she arranged her books for class she set to watching the blackboard and the clock. Still seven minutes till class, more time for her real work. She pulled out a notebook and flipped it open to continue the piece she was composing. Feeling a poke on the back of her neck she reached a hand up to rub the spot briefly and then ran her fingers through her hair. No more than three seconds later it came again. With a small huff she turned around in her chair to look at Six Foot Everything with an expecting and irritated stare.

"I'm Herry, by the way," he said cheerily, holding out his hand to her.

"Opal," she replied shortly, placing her petite hand in his massive one briefly. Quickly she took it back and turned to her book again.

"So, haven't seen you around before," he stated. _That's because you don't pay attention to anyone that's not in your little squad_, she thought to herself

"Yeah, I don't get out that much," she shrugged turning only halfway around this time.

"Mmm," he nodded, "why not?"

She shrugged sharply, because she didn't want to, home was usually where she wanted to be.

"Never know what you're missing out on," what a persistently optimistic person, Opal thought with slight contempt, wishing he would just leave her to herself. She wasn't missing out on anything, there was always an instrument to play at home and if she wanted to go outside, the beach was just a climb down to the cove or a walk down the street to the fishing marina.

"There's plenty to do around home," she defended.

"Yeah?" he shifted forward to lean on his desk. Why was he so insistent on provoking a conversation with her? Couldn't he tell she was busy?

"Yeah, you know, the beach, or piano and fishing," she listed off.

"Cool me and my Granny fish all the time," he told her with a bright smile.

"You fish with your grandmother?" she found herself responding, "What about your dad? That's who I fish with."

"My Gran is really the only family I have close by," he shrugged.

"Oh," she muttered softly.

"You seemed pretty surprised for a girl who also fishes," he pointed out.

"I only do it for my dad," she said, "He loves it, but I think it's boring."

"What a model daughter," he joked and she found herself smiling when she turned back to her book as the bell rang.

* * *

Six Foot Everything almost caught her at lunch time. He waved, she was sure he was waving at her because right after she heard her name. So she darted for the nearest exit and sprinted for the sports field. The weather was nice, so there were a fair number of people having lunch outside, but Opal found a place alone under one of the oak trees near the back fence. She didn't mind eating alone, she preferred it actually. Unfortunately she couldn't avoid Herry all day, her careful stalking to ensure she always arrived at their neighboring lockers after he left was obliterated by one small miscalculation.

"Forgot my book," he smiled at her before he spun the combo into the padlock's dial.

"Umm," she nodded and dropped her head to let her curls shield her face.

"I called to you at lunch," he continued.

"I guess I didn't hear you," she shrugged. When he didn't answer she peeked over to find a smirk and a raised eyebrow cast in her direction. She felt her cheeks flush and quickly she turned her attention back to her bag. What was she doing? Ignoring a perfectly nice guy all for what? Because she preferred to be alone.

"Tomorrow," he tapped her shoulder with the spine of his book, she glanced over as he continued, "you owe me your company at lunch." With one last smile he turned and left her to her thoughts. She could be sick tomorrow. With a groan she tossed her bag over her shoulder and dragged her feet outside to catch the bus. The ride home was long. She lived just outside of town, close to the fishing harbor, where her father worked. It was even longer with Six Foot Everything floating around her mind. Why, why, why did he feel the need to make friends with her?

With her mind full Opal stumbled into the quaint house she shared with her parents and, just recently, her cousin that was starting the fall term at Olympus University the next week. She dropped her bag in the landing and made it two steps up the staircase before her mother called to her from the kitchen about leaving her bag on the floor. Back tracking she scooped it up and continued the rout to her room, but again she was interrupted.

"Chickadee, how was your day?" the older woman stepped back from the counter to look through the doorway at her daughter. It was obvious she got her appearance from her mom, frizzy uncontrollable hair, short and broad hips. She was also where she got her musical talents from. Between the two of them the house was always alive with melody from various instruments.

"Same old," Opal shrugged.

"Hey, there's my favourite cousin," Glen looked like her father, short and stocky with wispy dirty blonde hair, at the moment he was dressed in a diving suit. On his way down the stairs he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her back outside, his Newfoundlander bounding along at his heals, barking happily, "I'm heading down to the beach want to join me?"

"Sure," she squirmed out of his grip to toss her bag back in the landing.

"Opal, what did I say about the bag?" her mother scolded.

"I'll get it when we come back," she waved as she walked off with her cousin and his dog.

"How's it feel to be back at school while I still have one week of summer vacation?" Glen elbowed her.

"Don't you have orientation to be to or something," she jibed.

"Meh," he shrugged and turned to address the Newfie, "It's not that hard to figure out your way around a school is it Rye? Plus, then we would be missing out on some killer waves." Rye barked loudly, jumping to catch her master's hand in her mouth. The beach was just a small climb down into a cove right behind the house. Rye bounded down the rocks and ran for the water while her humans caught up.

"So how does it feel to be back to school eh?" Glen asked genuinely as he climbed.

"I don't know," Opal replied, watching the ground as she followed his footsteps, "There's this guy in the locker beside me that won't leave me alone."

"Oh, a guy?" he exclaimed, stealing a glance over his shoulder, "is he hot?"

"Glen," she swatted at him.

"Is he?"

"I don't know," she shrugged sharply.

"That's a yes," he concluded smugly.

"It is not," she retorted, "He's too tall for me."

"That is not a valid excuse, you're a girl, only I can use she's too tall for me," he smirked as he jumped into the sand, "Or rather, I guess they say I'm too short for them, I have no problem with dating a girl taller than me."

"I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you, I don't want a boyfriend right now," she settled down onto a sun warmed rock.

"You not coming in?" he asked, deciding to ignore her last comment.

"Not today," she shook her head and leaned back on her hands. It was a perfect day to just sit in the sun and listen to the gentle waves lap up against the shore. As Glen and Rye bounded into the water she looked out over the ocean, watching the boats go by, wondering if one of them was her father's.

Out of nowhere she spotted what looked like a storm cloud forming, but it sprang up much too quickly. Concerned, she called for Glen and pointed. Her cousin had grown up on the east coast, Nova Scotia where her father was from. He had spent years volunteering on a search and rescue boat in the Atlantic. She trusted his opinion on the strange phenomenon happening over the water now. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the sun and followed her gaze.

"There's a boat in there," he turned back to call and then looked to his dog, "Rye, my surfboard." The Newfie paddled back to shore and ran over to a crevasse in the rocks. She pulled a surfboard free and dragged it back to Glen who was already swimming out to sea. The wait was excruciating, Glen and Rye became dots in the water and then invisible when they hit the white caps of the strange storm. Opal held her breath in the time she couldn't see them, then finally they reappeared. As they got closer she could see a body laying on the surfboard, dog and master working together to pull it. Getting closer still, Opal could make out the purple and yellow polo the body on Glen's board was wearing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jay's lungs burned with the heavy pressure of water inside his chest. He heard someone talking in his ear, tapping his cheek lightly. With a sudden spurt the muscles in his lungs contracted and he leaned to the side to cough up mouthfuls of water. It took all his strength to suck in a raspy and shallow breath of air, muscles all over his body twitching with the effort. Again he coughed up sputters of salty water. Finally able to breathe with enough efficiency to transfer oxygen to his various organs he dropped back onto the board.

He felt someone take his wrist and two fingers dug into his skin to check the pulse from his radial artery. He relaxed a little, whoever was speaking over top of him obviously had some experience in first aid. In his endless first aid training sessions with Chiron, the centaur had always stressed talking to the recipient of the aid treatment. Even if they look unconscious they may still be able to hear you, it wasn't until he found himself in this helpless position that he appreciated the standard. Having a stranger guide him to his side to assume the shock position would have been much more alarming if he wasn't being talked through the whole procedure.

Jay forced his eyes open and weakly pushed himself up to sit. He needed to make sure no one called the ambulance for him. Kneeled in front of him was a stocky man, studying his face for any offsetting red flags, still keeping tabs on his pulse. Slowly the blonde asked, "Do you know what today is?"

Jay smirked and nodded, "September seventh. My birthday is May sixteenth, my blood type is A positive and we're in New Olympia BC, did I miss anything?"

"Your height," the boy laughed lightly and dropped his wrist, "I see you're no stranger to first aid."

"No," Jay glanced down to the sand and muttered, "Don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"I'm Glen, over there is my dog Rye, we've both been trained in search and rescue," Jay smirked again, listing your credentials, it was another issue Chiron always stressed, another issue Jay didn't necessarily see the point in. Obviously whoever's helping you is more than likely trained in first aid.

"Well thanks for coming out," Jay held over his hand for Glen to shake, "I'm Jay."

"Nice to meet you," he clasped his hand and smiled, "You've aspirated, I'd recommend dropping by a doctor to make sure there's no damage. We're pretty far out of town, I could give you a ride back if you'd like."

"I appreciate the offer," slowly Jay staggered to his feet, his lungs heaving with the sudden exertion. He reached into his pocket for his cell and said, "but I can call for a ride." He began to fiddle with the blue device, shaking out the water, but it was no use. It was short circuited.

"Well at least come up to the house," Glen pointed to the cottage at the top of the hill, "We'll get you some dry clothes and you can use the phone."

"Sure, thanks," he nodded and turned to start climbing up the hill. As he swiveled on his heel he came face to face with a shock stricken girl. He narrowed his eyes at her as his memory pricked, "Do I know you?"

"Umm, we go to the same school," she offered quietly, "I've seen you around."

"Oh, okay," he replied.

"What happened out there?" she asked.

"I don't know," he reached up a hand up to run through his soaked hair and shifted his gaze away, "storm came up out of nowhere."

"Mmm," she hummed and fell into step at the rear when Glen started to lead Jay up the gnarled pathway in the rocks. Jay's feet felt like his bones had suddenly turned to lead, he could barely drag one in front of the other. The small hill he was climbing felt more like a mountain. Glen guided him through the back of the house, a sliding glass door that was open to let in the salty ocean breeze.

"Opal, can you grab some of your dad's clothes?" she nodded at the boy's request and disappeared up a set of stairs. In moments Jay had a dry set of clothing and was directed to the nearest washroom. It felt magnificent to peal out of the soaking clothes he was in, clinging to him uncomfortably, itching as the salty water dripped down his skin. He turned his shirt completely inside out before he was able to wrestle his limbs free so he could toss on the flannel button down. Tediously Jay shimmied out of his jeans, kicking water droplets everywhere as he struggled. The new clothing was a little baggy, but it was worlds better than being drenched.

He took a glance in the mirror to comb his fingers through his messed hair, laughing at the sight. I looked like plaid had waltzed up and puked all over him. The blue of the pajama pants clashing horribly with the red shirt. Neil was sure to faint when he came home looking like this. Jay shook his head vigorously to rid his hair of as much moisture as possible and then wrapped his clothing up in a dripping, heavy ball. Barefoot he let himself out of the bathroom and back into the living room.

The blonde girl was plucking at the keys of a piano absentmindedly, playing nothing in particular. Jay cleared his throat and she whipped her head around to the sound, with her attention gained he asked, "I don't want to drip all over the floor, do you have a plastic bag or something? And where is the phone?"

"Phone, right by the couch," she pointed at a small side table behind him and then got to her feet, "I'll grab you a bag."

"Thanks," he nodded as she brushed by him on the way to the kitchen and turned to pick up the phone. Quickly he punched in Herry's number and was not surprised to find his friend more than willing to come pick him up. Finished with his phone call, Jay stood awkwardly, rolling up and down on the balls of his feet.

"You can sit," Opal said as she returned with a bag.

"Thanks," Jay replied, stuffing his clothes in the grocery bag before he sat. She went back to the piano and continued simple scales.

"What were you doing out there?" she asked, but didn't look up from her fingers on the keys.

"Sailing," he replied shortly.

"Mmm," she hummed, "capsized?"

"Yeah," he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and began fiddling with his PMR. He had capsized in the white caps of the waves as he was trying to get some footage of that storm. He could have sworn he saw some leathery flashes of dragon wings through the pounding rain, up in the churning gray of the clouds. The water might have damaged his phone too much to regain the images. He had heard putting electronics in rice reversed water damage, it seemed like a ludicrous idea, but he might as well give it a shot once he got home.

With a sigh he leaned back against the cushions of the couch, swiveling the top of his PMR open and closed as he glanced out the glass door from across the room, looking out over the ocean. That storm was gone now, no sign of turbulence in the waters, no ominous clouds lingering in the air. The ocean was like glass, reflecting the afternoon sun brilliantly. Jay sucked at his teeth, what was Cronus up to now? He leaned forward again to continue his attempts to get his phone to work. He needed to get those images up so he could show his team and Hera, get their opinions on the phenomenon.

A knock came at the door and Jay shot his head up, it was probably his ride, but he didn't want to be impolite and answer the door of a stranger's house. Opal slipped out from the bench at the piano and padded over to the door. Seeing the familiar head of flowing strawberry blond hair Jay bolted up from the couch to make his way to the door.

"Jay," Theresa's face lit up and she tossed her arms around his neck, face nuzzled into the recess of his shoulder she said, "We lost your signal and then it picked up again here. We didn't know what happened to you."

"I'm fine," he replied, happily relaxing into her warm hug, "My own fault for going to check out that storm alone."

"What storm?" she asked, pulling away to give him a curious look, leaving her hands on his shoulders.

"Oh," he took a glance behind him and said, "I'll tell you in the car."

Her face hardened with his comment and her eyes darkened.

"Opal," Jay said, turning to face the girl as he pulled at the shirt he was wearing, "I'll clean these tonight and bring them to school tomorrow."

"Sure, no rush," she nodded.

"Kay, thanks for everything," he gave a polite smile and turned to walk back to the road with Theresa, where her convertible was parked with Neil and Atlanta waiting in the back.

"Dude," Neil pointed and giggled as they walked over, "what are you wearing?"

Jay just rolled his eyes and jumped into the passenger seat, "One of you guys want to give Herry a call, he's on his way here to get me."

"On it," Atlanta said, pulling out her PMR.

"So what happened?" Theresa asked as she tossed the car into first and signaled back onto the road, "We could see your boat from the beach and then you were just gone. I was just about to call the other guys when your signal picked back up."

"Well I saw this whirlpool first, so I just kind of kept my distance, but then there was this dark figure that shot up from the water and into the sky, shortly after a storm came up, out of nothing. It wasn't natural, and we all know what that means."

"Cronus," was the unanimous answer.

"I got some good footage of it, but my PMR, ahh, wasn't watching what I was doing and I got overrun by the waves, such a stupid mistake," Jay shook his phone and tapped it on his knee in irritation, "At least it's still transmitting a signal, I guess the damage could be worse."

"Well, I'm glad you're all right," Theresa said, reaching out a hand to place on his thigh as she drove back to town. Jay scowled in though, but was happy to place his hand over hers as he lost himself in his mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Hera, what is happening?" a man at the apex of a mountainous road muttered as he watched the scene in front of him unravel, lifting the visor of his bulky helmet to gain a clearer look. The storm over the ocean was isolated and he could see the dragon swarming above it. The gentleman set his foot back on his motorcycle and tore off towards New Olympia. The light from the late afternoon sun shimmered on the pearl white paint job of the bike, flicking an array of colours across its surface as it zoomed down the highway.

A crashing in the forest drew the gray haired man's attention just in time, skidding to a stop right in front of the trail of a rampaging giant boar. He knocked down the kickstand of his bike with his cowboy booted foot and he hopped off to confront the monster. The bull turned to him and pawed the pavement, nostrils flaring.

"Calydonian Boar," a smile pulled on his lips, deepening the laugh lines and creases around his eyes, "My it's been a while." In a flash there was a stiletto in his hand, the knife that had been concealed in the sleeve of his brown leather jacket.

* * *

Upon returning to the brownstone Jay burst through the front door and bounded down the stairs two at a time to Odie's room. In the hazy glow of computer light he found the boy hunched over a laptop clicking furiously on the mouse and fingers flying over the keyboard. Herry sat across from him, leaning back in his chair as he pounded on his own laptop.

"What?" Odie shot up to give his brawny friend a smug smile, "Who just overran your base?"

"Whatever man, lucky rush," Herry huffed and looked over to the sudden light streaming into the dully lit room, "Sup Jay?"

Jay offered Odie a sheepish smile and held out his fried phone to his friend.

"Jay," Odie huffed in irritation, taking the phone from him, "I seriously need to find a way to make these things waterproof."

"I had some important pictures on there, do you think you could recover them?" he asked urgently.

"Sure, I'll give it a shot," Odie pushed out of his chair and strolled over to his desktop. He fished out a cord from his desk drawer and plugged the device into the tower of his computer. He took a seat on the wheeled chair and pulled up the computer's file settings to find the input. Sorting through the various phone applications implanted in the PMR he found the image file and pulled it up. For the most part there was pictured of him and Theresa, the rest of the gang making regular cameos. Odie slowly scrolled down the library, leaning forward as he reached the bottom of the file.

"What is that," he whispered clicking on the picture to enlarge it. Flashing up on the screen was a sky of black clouds letting down a wave of water. Jay pointed to a blurred section of the picture in the top corner.

"Is it just me or does that look like a wing," he voiced.

"Huh, it's pretty unclear," Odie flicked along down the file to the next picture and the next. Each was the same, blurred by the downpour of rain, insufficient lighting with the blotted out sun. He clicked on the last file to start up the video. It was shaky, but the clarity was greatly improved.

"Shit," Herry muttered, leaning over Odie as the three boys watched the computer screen. A leathery wing cut through the billows of clouds and then moments later came the flick of a barbed tail.

"I was hoping you would be wrong," Odie let out a defeated sigh and slid down in his chair, swiveling around he looked up to Jay and said, "leave your PMR with me for a bit and I'll fix the water damage."

"Thanks," Jay said as he straightened, getting up from his elbows, "I'm going to get out of these clothes and then look up a little about whatever is going on with this dragon, or whatever it is."

"Alright," Odie turned back to his desk to pick up Jay's phone, reaching for the screwdriver kit that was tossed to the side of his keyboard.

"You should have a shower first, don't care how important looking through books are, personal hygiene should trump it," Herry leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms over his chest and his feet at the ankle, "Dude, you smell like a fish swam up your pants and died there."

"Yeah, I guess I can spare a few minutes for a shower," Jay sighed, reaching up a hand to peel off the stands of hair plastered to his forehead by the salty ocean water before he turned to let himself out of the room.

"Jay," Herry smirked and shook his head, "never changes"

"What are you doing now?" Odie asked his friend.

"Probably go get something to eat," he shrugged and pushed himself off of the desk.

"Herry," Odie muttered under his breath as the teen left, "never changes."

* * *

The progression of music notes flew down from Opal's pencil into her notebook. She was completely engrossed in her work when a set of folded clothing was dropped down on her desk. She jumped and let out a small sound of alarm, looking over she saw the blue and red plaid of her father's borrowed clothing.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," she glanced over to Herry with wide eyes. Quickly she closed her mouth and shook her head.

"It's fine, thanks," she offered a small smile and then looked down to her paper, shit, where was she going with this chord progression? She groaned and flipped her book closed; it had been a brilliant idea too. Leaning her cheek into her fist she reached out a hand to pick at the buttons of her father's shirt. She hummed in consideration and stole a peek from over her shoulder, using her hair to shield her face. Herry was leaning back in his chair, smirking down at his lap, obviously texting.

She turned around a little further and tapped the eraser of her pencil on the cover of his textbook that had been hastily dropped on the corner of his desk. He looked up in curiosity and sent her a warm smile, "What's up?"

"Did your friend, Jay, did he say anything about the storm?" she asked him.

His smile dropped and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "A little."

"Umm, like what?" she prompted quietly.

"Just that it came up out of nowhere," he replied shortly and then quickly changed the subject, "Did you start reading '1984' last night?"

"No," she shook her head, "read the sparknotes summery online."

A broad smile quickly returned to his face, poking little dimples into his cheeks, he huffed out a laugh and said, "Good old sparknotes, facilitating my laziness since ninth grade. I can't remember the last time I actually read the assigned books in class."

"Yeah," she nodded and turned back around. He was hiding something, she was sure he knew more about that storm than he was letting on. She ran her finger over the soft flannel shirt folded on her desk and chewed her lip nervously. Her father was always out on the water, what if something like that storm hit his boat? She prayed it had been a fluke and there would be no more reoccurrences of the strange weather in the future.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Jay leaned over the edge of his sailboat, peering down into the inky blues of the Pacific. Gentle swirls ebbed up and down, their soft movement glistening in the sunlight and swaying the ship like a baby's cradle. The salt of the ocean floated on the breeze and ticked Jay's nose. They had been out for hours and there was still no sign of that strange creature. He sucked in a deep breath and looked over to his team, all watching him expectantly.

"Sorry guys," he said and shrugged his shoulders while he shook his head slowly.

"No worries," Odie said, "I'm sure it will make another appearance sometime."

"Yeah," he leaned back against the edge of the boat and crossed his arms, furrowing his brows as he looked down to the floor.

"Don't worry about it Jay," Theresa said in a quiet whisper, leaning on the railing beside him.

"Do you sense anything?" he turned to ask her.

"No," she shrugged and shook her head, "Nothing at all."

He huffed and looked up to the perfectly clear sky.

"Well, now that this wild goose chase is over I can get back to the important things," Neil dropped back in one of the sailboat's lounge chairs and spread his arms out welcome the sun's warm embrace, "like my tan."

"Yeah, Neil's got a point, let's take the afternoon and relax," Atlanta said, "When's the last time we all went out to do something together that didn't involve Cronus?"

"Dude, let's head back to the beach," Herry nudged Jay's foot with his own, "Get a game of volleyball going or something."

"Sure," Jay forced a smile and pushed off from the railing to begin maneuvering the sails, "Herry, can you get the jib?"

"On it Captain," he saluted and hopped onto the bow to raise the front sail.

"Yo, Atlanta did all of you get caught up in _Walking Dead_ yet?" Archie asked, securely seated in a cushioned bench in the center of the boat's hull.

"Oh my goodness," she said, jumping up from the ship's railing to come over and sit with him, "the ending? Why do they always have to leave it off on cliff hangers?"

"I can't believe you guys watch that show," Neil scrunched up his nose and stuck out his tongue, "have you seen those people? It's called shampoo, conditioner and brush."

"Yeah Neil, that stuff tends to come up short post zombie apocalypse," Atlanta said as she rolled her eyes, turning to Archie she took his hands and asked in complete seriousness, "In the zombie apocalypse would you kill me if I turned?"

"Of course Atlanta, I'd smash a shovel through your skull," he said in a soft voice and returned the question to her.

"I'd shoot you between the eyes with my crossbow," she replied with genuine sincerity and they both swooned out a sigh to one another.

"I'm no expert on romance," Odie said, "but I'm pretty sure that's not what it's supposed to look like."

"You can say that again," Neil said with a sneer, "Talking about how you would kill each other is not cute."

"Technically we'd already be dead," Atlanta said, sparing a glance to the model, she gasped in sudden realization and then turned to Archie to ask, "What if I was infected? Would you kill me then?"

"I wouldn't let you turn," he took her hands and squeezed them.

"Good," she said and held fast to his hands, with happy smiles they blissfully stared into each other's eyes. Neil opened his mouth wide and motioned to shove his fingers down his throat. Odie chuckled and shook his head, the only one to witness the mockery.

* * *

Opal sang along with the radio as she chopped vegetables for the omelet her father was making. It was the music he liked to listen to, from back when he was a teen, but she didn't care, every kind of music had a certain kind of respect from her. There was some great music from the day, revolutionists that would never lose their names in musical history. Belting out 'fat bottomed girls' off key her father rubbed one of his broad shoulders up against hers. She giggled and faced him and they sang the chorus of the Queen song into one another's faces.

The creases on his face deepened as he laughed. The touches of the sun were always evident on his face, always painting it unevenly, there were blotches of lighter skin where his eyes crinkled in smile and forehead furrowed in thought. He scooped up the cutting board from in front of her with large and calloused hands, hands of a laborer. Everything about him reflected his work, clearly fit for his age, if packing on a little extra weight around the stomach in his middle age. There were white and raised scars all over his hands from fish hooks, each with an entertaining bedtime story, most of which she was now certain he had embellished to impress her when she was younger. No one has to rush themselves to the emergency room because a barracuda had tossed a hook into their thumb.

He continued to sing and bounce with the music as he mixed the vegetables with the scrambled eggs and dumped the whole thing into a sizzling frying pan. The smell of simmering greens wafted up, over the subtle smell of fish and salt that was always lingering on her father. Opal took in a deep breath, the fresh smell flooding her nose, the warm steam wafting up to caress her face.

"Chickadee, can you get the door?" John told her when a knock sounded, scrapping the spatula over the bottom of the pan.

"Sure," she nodded and skipped off to oblige. Music still blaring in the background she opened the front door, sending a curious gaze out onto the porch. She didn't recognize the man, tall and slender. He was an older man with hair that had long forgotten its natural shade. It was a little wind tussled, a few stray strands sticking up how they pleased. The leather jacket and the jeans with rips in the knees gave him a more scruffy appearance, even though he was clean shaven.

"Hello," he smiled warmly and the wrinkles in his face deepened, "Look at you, last time I saw you was in the delivery room, I told them you'd have your mother's hair."

"Umm, Dad?" she stepped back from the doorway and called into the kitchen.

"Who is it?" he yelled over the music.

"Can you come here?"

"Chickadee, I'm in the middle of cooking," he said, "Invite them in."

"Ahh, come in," she looked back to the gentleman. He nodded a thank you and stepped into the landing, reaching down to take off his cowboy boots.

"No way," John said from the kitchen, looking over from where he stood in front of the stove with eyes wide, "Percival? What are you doing here?"

"Just in town," the man smiled and walked over, flicking the volume on the radio down in the process, "Is your wife in?"

"Ophelia's out right now," he said, looking back to his cooking, "but she'll be home in about an hour, you're welcome to stick around."

"Dad?" Opal slipped over to him and whispered, "Who is this?"

"John, don't tell me Ophelia never talks about me," he smiled, easily overhearing the girl's inquiry, "I was practically family."

"This is your mom's Uncle Percy," John said, "well, figuratively, helped look after her when your grandma passed."

"You knew her?" Opal asked with a whisper, sticking close to her father as he moved around the kitchen counter, "My grandmother?"

"We use to be really close friends back in high school," Percival took a seat at the small table pushed up against the wall in the corner and smiled in memory, his left hand slipping into the pocket of his jacket.

"What, umm, what was she like?" she asked, taking a plate full of eggs from her father. She shuffled over to take a seat at the dining table when John nudged her with his knuckle in the small of her back. John took one of the two seats his daughter had left free between herself and Percival and pushed over a plate of eggs to the guest.

"Thanks," he smiled and plucked up the fork as he looked back to the young woman across the table from him, a smirk pulling on the corner on his lips, "You're grandmother; she was to charming for her own good."

"Sounds like Ophelia," John said under his breath in a mutter and grinned down at his food.

"Mom says she remembered her singing, did she sing?" Opal asked.

"Yeah, she could sing like a siren," he said. Turning his attention over to John he reaching out a hand to tap him on the shoulder, "I saw this storm when I was coming up over the mountains, out on the ocean. See anything at all while you were out in the fishing boats?"

"Yeah, saw a strange storm pop up the other day," he leaned back in his chair, tossing one arm over the backrest, "wasn't over where the trawlers go though, didn't get a good look at it."

"I see," he nodded and placed his chin in his hand, "Watch yourself out there will you?"

"Of course, we stay out of the storms," he gave a good natured smile, "So, how long are you going to be in town?"

"Thinking I'll be around for a while yet," he gave a nod with a furrowed brow.

"You're welcome to stay here," John gestured to the doorway to the living room, "My nephew's using the spare bedroom while he's going to school but there's a couch open."

"I don't want to put you out," he waved off the offer.

"Ophelia's not going to let you stay in a hotel," he raised one eyebrow and gave a knowing smile. Percival just shook his head and grinned down at his meal.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Opal was sorting through the books arranged at the bottom of her locker when Herry strolled over, stifling a yawn. He rubbed his eyes and then spun his combo into his lock, popping the door open to toss his duffle inside. She had gotten into the habit of watching him from the corner of her eye while appearing like she was diddling around with her bag. He seemed more tired than usual this morning, sleepy eyes and excessive yawning was usually only reserved for Mondays.

She considered asking him if he had a late night. '_Late night eh?'_ seemed simple enough, then why did her heart all of a sudden decide to remind her it was still beating strongly in her chest? Oh no. No, no, a crush. She couldn't have a crush. God damned Six Foot Everything with his happy smile and those god damned little dimples on his cheeks. What was this? Freaking crushes always snuck up on her, like Jeremy in her grade nine history class. For a month his hiccupping laugh drove her insane, what an annoying sound, and then one morning it was the cutest thing. The only difference with Jeremy was that he never talked to her, he didn't know she existed. Herry did know she existed. Admiring happily, and safely, from afar would not be an option with him.

She startled when he groaned, she pushed her hair away from her eyes to watch him more closely. He dug into his pocket and flipped open his phone. Grumbling he shot the name of one of his friends through to the other side.

"Yeah, Jay," he muttered, "Jay, I got it… Jay… Yeah, I'll be right there." He snapped his phone shut and dropped it back into his pocket. Flicking his locker door closed in a rush he turned and hastily lost himself in the crowd of students. It always seemed like it was important when he got a phone call, he always bolted off like that after them. His face, it always looked more serious after them as well, his eyes got darker, the muscle in his jaw would jump as he clenched his teeth, it was the only time she ever saw anything that resembled a frown come across his lips. Opal didn't know what to think about his abrupt behaviors. There was nothing she could think of that would explain them. She huffed out a breath to blow her bangs from her eyes and headed off for class. It came as no surprise when he didn't show up to their homeroom.

Of all the ways to begin a class Rice decided to have a pop quiz. Opal's heart leapt into her throat at the announcement, the revelation that it wasn't worth marks did little to alleviate her stress. They were starting a new unit and Rice just wanted to see what their understanding of the topic on Greek Mythology. Receiving the paper Opal quickly scanned over the questions, _what were Hercules' Labors?_ She could maybe think of one, out of how many she wasn't sure. _The twelve Olympians?_ She might have a shot at that one. _Summary of the Trojan War. _She saw that movie once.

She had a fistful of hair clenched in her hand, chewing on her lip while she tapped her pencil on her paper when Herry came into the room. He shrugged an apology and handed over a late slip to Rice. The teacher snatched it away from him and passed him a test sheet. She watched the panic flash across his face as he realized what the paper was and then a crooked smile flooded away the anxiety in his features. As he strolled over to his desk he muttered the questions to himself, missing her eyes following him as he passed by her. From over her shoulder she watched him click the end of a pen and then swiftly scribble answers on the sheet. She sighed and looked back to her half blank test.

When Rice called for them to hand their papers forward to be taken up in class she was unsure of most of her answers and there was a significant amount of the paper left white. Herry held his paper over her shoulder, she took it and smoothed it out on her desk and began comparing her answers.

"What?" she muttered looking at the first question, _what were Hercules' labors,_ he had put all twelve. She had heard that he wasn't the smartest member of his group, but this lead her to believe otherwise. She checked off his list as Rice read out the possible answers. Not only had he got them all right, he had them in chronological order. Opal stole a quick glance over her shoulder, hiding her face under her hair. He was doodling on the desk as he waited for the teacher to continue with the next question.

The Twelve Olympians, got them all. The Titans, got them all too, and the last one on his list, Cronus, it was written in all capitols and underlined. Odd, maybe he had forgotten that last one and his writing changed only because remembered last minute. _Pegasus belonged too? _Perseus, was the scrawled answer. _Oops got that wrong, Disney lied to me, _Opal thought with a smirk, _totally thought it was Hercules. _His answers continued with perfection, describing heroes like he knew them and monsters like he had a vendetta against them.

She handed it back to him with an amazed look, "How do you know all that?"

"Ah, I, ah, it's… I just like it," he offered, phrasing his answer like a question, unsure of himself. She nodded in confusion and turned back around to meet the forty-one circled in red at the top of her paper, good thing it was not worth marks. She let out a defeated sigh and held it out for the teacher to collect as he walked by.

* * *

Odie scrolled through the satellite images on his computer, Jay hovering behind him. The storm hadn't appeared for very long earlier that morning, it had vanished by the time they made it to the shore of the ocean. The pictures they were flicking through did not show them anything they didn't already know. There were no strange flicks of dragon wings or tails in the images, just a perfectly round bellow of gray clouds.

"I've been looking through lists of sea monsters," Jay muttered, "But I still don't know what this could be. I don't know, it just doesn't really seem like it's Cronus."

"Yeah man, I know what you mean, Cronus usually strikes faster than and harder than what this is doing," Odie said, "Even if it's not Cronus, it most definitely is still related to him though."

"Mmm, yeah that's almost as concerning," Jay said, "as if Cronus' activities here are attracting others from the myths."

"I'm sure we'll figure this out," Odie said after a moment of silence, clicking the x in the corner of the screen, he turned his computer chair around to face his leader, "What do you say we go start a movie?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to look through some of my text books a little more," he muttered and turned to take his leave. Odie sighed and shook his head.

"Jay, what's up?" Herry asked as he squeezed into the dim room past the smaller man. Jay just offered a quick flick of his fingers in a wave and continued his way out into the hallway. Herry took a moment to give him a confused look and then turned back to Odie with a broad smile, holding out a package wrapped in brown packing paper. It was about the size of a DVD case and when he shook it the sound of a disk rattling in its case drew Odie over to the door.

"Is that?" he took the case from his friend and tore off the packaging like a child on Christmas morning, "Ha, been waiting ages for this."

"Is that Starcraft? I thought it wasn't out yet."

"It's not, this is the beta," Odie said as he popped it into his computer, setting up the program for download.

"How did you get the beta?" Herry asked, spinning one of the extra chairs in his friend's room around to drop into, folding his arms across the back rest.

"Requested, and since I'm awesome, I got it," he gloated with a smug smile.

"Piff," Herry rolled his eyes.

"Arch wants to download it on his laptop, we'll get Atlanta in on it and have a two on two," he continued, "What do you think?"

"Sure, but will be like midnight before we all get it downloaded on our computers," he replied.

"That's cool," he shrugged and held out a closed fist to the man with a cheery smile, "Top shelf my friend."

Herry sent his fist a confused look and hesitantly reached out a hand to push Odie's fist into his open palm. The smaller man hunched his shoulders and sent Herry an unimpressed look. Fist bumping was a relatively simple and commonly used gesture. When Odie first met the boy he had ignored Herry's misunderstanding of his greeting, but now he wasn't afraid to correct him.

"Dude, has no one besides me tried to fist bump you before?" he asked.

"Oh, is that what you're doing?"

"Yes," he said with a blank face and held out his fist.

"Cool," Herry tapped his knuckles against his friend's. Odie just shook his head and looked back to his computer. Herry, kind of a dumbass sometimes, but the best dumbass he had ever had the pleasure of meeting.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Herry groaned when his alarm began blaring in his ear. He reached out blindly to his bed side table and began searching around with uncoordinated fingers, sending papers flying and his PMR clanking to the floor. When he found his alarm he slammed his palm down on snooze and then repeated the process two more times before he finally rolled out of bed. It was unusually dark in his room. He stumbled towards his drawers, kicking a lead weight on his way over. He cursed and lifted his foot up to squeeze his throbbing toes. What a way to start the morning. Grumbling he stomped down the stairs, pulling his shirt over his head. He rounded into the kitchen to find Jay and Archie conversing over a bowl of cereal. He grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and joined them.

"Hey, why the hell is it so dark outside, did I miss daylight saving time or something?" he asked in irritation.

"No," Archie replied.

"Something about this doesn't feel right," Jay said in thought, "There's no clouds in the sky and it's already eight in the morning, but it doesn't even look like the sun is starting to come up."

"Do you think it's Cronus?" Herry asked, drowning his corn pops in milk.

"Isn't it always," Archie smirked.

"Archie," Jay scolded, "this is serious."

"Jay, calm down and wait till lunch, it might lighten up by then," Archie said. Reluctantly Jay agreed and pushed away from the table to toss his bowl in the sink.

* * *

Opal's hands were shaking as she struggled with the clips on her bag. Why was it so dark outside? Dark she could deal with when she was sleeping, and that was all. The flashlight in the drawer of her bedside table was always within arm's reach and always had a fresh pair of spare batteries tucked away with it. This was not natural, where was the sun? It should be up by now. The clatter of a lock being scooped into a palm drew a sharp screech from her.

"Sorry," Herry sent her a look that was more concerned for her sanity than apologetic.

She collected her skin from the ceiling and picked her stomach up from the floor before she answered him with a shaky voice, "It's okay. I just don't like the dark."

"Oh yeah," he looked down the hallway to peer out the window, "Odd isn't it."

"You know what's going on don't you?" she said before the rational part of her brain could stop her. There had been a lot of weird things happening in her home town the past few years. In the time she had known Herry she noticed how his eyes shifted and the frown that pulled down on his lips with every single occurrence.

"What?" he shook his head and looked down at her with his brows drawn together.

"That look on your face, you're much calmer than everyone else right now, you know what's going on," she said.

"What?" he shook his head and forced a smile, "Honestly, I don't know what's going on."

"Yes, you do," she repeated again.

"No, I don't," he shook his head, _I just have a hunch._

She glared at him for a moment, until the sting of tears pricked at the back of her eyes. She staggered back a step and looked away, turning back to her open locker to continue fiddling with the snaps on her bag.

"Hey, what are you doing with your eyes," Herry quickly stammered, panic tugging at his insides, "Are you crying? No, stop that."

"No, I'm not crying," she sniffled and ran the back of her hand across her face.

"Yes, you are, now stop it," he ordered.

She ignored him and sniffled again.

"Stop it," he repeated with a desperate force, freaking women and their tears. Hers were just as terrifying as Theresa's, whenever he would find her crying over a tub of ice cream at some ungodly time in the morning.

"Then make the sun come back," she told him and slammed her locker shut. Taking off down the hall to the one guaranteed place he couldn't follow her, the girl's bathroom. Herry shook his head and tossed up his hands in complete shock. Maybe it would be best if he watched himself around her from now on, not give her anymore hints about his life that could tip her off.

* * *

Jay was jumping when lunch rolled around and the sky was still an inky black. He paced in front of the lunch table as he waited for the others to arrive. The students gathered in the cafeteria all seemed tense and unnerved by the expanse of darkness. The cafeteria was stilled to a haunting quiet as they listened to the news coming over the television that had always only ever been set to satellite radio. Slowly his team assembled and he ushered everyone to the god's domain. He jogged briskly to Hera's office with the others staying on his heal. She was speaking with Hermes when he crashed through the door. She welcomed them in a relived but tense voice.

"Jay," Hermes rushed over to the group, "There's something not right out there."

"Thanks Hermes, we hadn't noticed," Atlanta muttered under his breath as she elbowed Archie in the ribs.

"There's something dark covering the city," Hera expanded, "Hermes thinks he has locked onto the section that had the most negative energy."

"Well where is it?" Jay prompted urgently.

"It's in Point Johnson," she told him.

Jay's pulse dropped, the park was the largest one in the city with its own campground, the place was more like a conservation reserve.

"I'm sorry I couldn't pinpoint it any closer than that," Hermes shrugged, tossing out his hands, palms up.

"Well, it's a lot better than nothing," he turned to his teammates, "Come on guys, let's go." They rushed back out of the school and into the parking lot. The darkness was eerie, naturally pricking at every hair to stand on end. There were ravens sitting all over, on the roof of the school, on the cars, on light posts. All of the birds paused their preening or pecking to shift their eyes towards the heroes. With light treading tiptoes Jay crept down the concrete steps to the sidewalk, leading the way to the truck. On the railing post sat one of the black ravens, it squawked as Neil walked by and the blonde shrieked, jumping behind Archie.

"Come on man, it's just a bird," Archie complained. The raven beat its wings, and the slash of feathers cutting through air resonated as it flew off into the sky. They watched it go, evaporating into the darkness like an ice cube melting in a drink.

"Did I just see that?" Atlanta asked, "Please tell me I'm not crazy."

"Yeah, I saw it too," Odie said.

"Come on guys," Jay prompted, the first to look away from the sky where the raven vanished. They rushed through the flock to Herry's truck and piled in. He flicked the headlights on and backed out of the lot, taking off down the road to the edge of town. As he drove he noticed the lights being cast from his headlights seemed to be absorbed by the unnatural night, more and more as they approached the park. He flicked his high beams on, but they were devoured by the darkness too.

"Damn it, I can't see a thing," he leaned forward to squint out the windshield, slowing significantly.

"Oh, I have some night goggles in my bag," Odie piped fishing them out to hand over.

"Odie, only you would just carry around a pair of night glasses in your pack," Atlanta told him.

"Thanks buddy, much better," Herry said as he set them on his nose and the darkness lit into a crisp green. He slammed his foot down on the gas and tore through the streets. Theresa gasped as Herry turned down the packed gravel of the park's main road. The trees became denser, their branches shifting hauntingly in the shadows. Jay placed a hand on Theresa's knee and waited for her to come out of a vision.

"What did you see?" Jay asked her when she blinked open her eyes.

"Uggh," she rubbed the tips of her fingers into her temples and clenched her eyelids closed, "Just darkness everywhere, coming from all around."

"It's okay," Odie called from the back seat, pulling out his laptop. He switched it on and the fans began whisking. He pulled up an advanced GPS program and started pounding on his keyboard, "Let me just fix on the dark particles…"

"Whatever you say Odie," Archie said, leaning over his shoulder to look at the computer screen. The radar fixed in on a concentration of dark matter. He plugged his PMR into the computer and downloaded the coordinates.

"Here Herry, follow this," he unplugged his phone and leaned forward to place it in Herry's palm. He clipped it into a stand on the dash and adjusted it to view while he drove. Slowly he maneuvered down rows of campsites, the gravel crunching and popping under the heavy treaded tires of his truck. He crept past a campsite watching the GPS closely and then tossed his truck in reverse to back into it.

The team hopped out into the cool air of the extended night. It was deathly quiet, no birds sang or crickets, no leaves rustled in the still air. They expanded a parameter around the packed ground of the campsite. Odie jumped up to sit on the top of a picnic table located centrally, right beside a fire pit. Setting his computer on his lap he quickly set up an analysis of the atmosphere. As the program ran the study a warning to plug the computer came up on his screen.

"No, I just had it plugged in," he pulled up the battery status and watched the bar of its energy drain like a sieve and the screen snapped black, the cooling fan swirled to a stop. With that small white noise gone the silence hit him like a train, his eyes use to the blue electronic glow were useless in the pitch. His breathing hitched as his senses abandoned him.

A gust whipped like a gunshot, the blast rushing inward from all around to the campsite. Pulses of all seven teens raced, stomachs jumping into throats as they broadened their stance to ready for a confrontation. Trees groaned in the wind, branches and leaves sending up a commotion of moans. Cracks and bangs resonated through the forest as branches and trunks snapped to come crashing to the ground. The shock wave constricted in on its center as belts constricted around lungs and came to a sudden, ground rattling halt. The complete silence was restored.

"What was that?" Archie asked rigidly, standing ready with his whip.

"I don't know," Jay said, fingers brushing his chest over his heart, "Herry can I see those glasses for a second."

"Sure," he took them off and his heart began pounding in his ears with his vision back to human.

"Oh my gods," Jay breathed as he watched raven after raven materialize from nothing but blackness and drop on the tree branches like rain. In seconds the campsite was surrounded with rasping and squawking black birds. They watched the ravens with hearts hammering, keeping completely still. One bird let out a blood curdling screech and a swarm of black rose from the trees, their wings churning the air like a jet. Hundreds of birds dove for the group of heroes. It was useless to lash out, but Jay did with his sword, Archie with his whip, Atlanta with her mounted cross bow and Herry with his fists. More and more birds just swooped in to replace their fallen comrades as they exploded into puffs of black smoke. Odie took Neil's lead and fell to the ground in a ball, covering his head the best he could with his arms as the birds bombarded them with ripping talons and probing scalpels for beaks.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

It was like being trapped in a waterfall, the roaring of air churning from raven wings and the continuous pelting from their bodies. There was no way to know how to escape. Squawking was the only noise ringing through the air, threatening eardrums to rupture. The mob of ravens moved like liquid, it was like trying to push away water at the bottom of the ocean.

A haunting laugh came cutting through the cool, dark air, over the nose of the mobbing birds, from one direction and then a completely opposite one the next. Jay tried to follow it, jerking his bodies to face the noise. He couldn't see through the flashing black of feathers and opening his eyes in the presence of these birds was a danger all in its own.

Like a tide retreating out to sea the ravens retreated. They perched back on the trees, covering their branches with dark figures and feathers instead of leaves. A billowing column of smoke began to boil on the edge of the campsite, like a wet fire just about to burst into flames. Then it cleared, drifting up into the sky, and in its place stood a woman. Her skin a paper white, sharply contrasting against her black hair that flowed like liquid in the darkness behind her. Her eyes were a crystal blue, lips a blood red, curved up in a cruel smile. The inky silk of her fitted dress glimmered with star sparkling dots. The fabric of the strapless garment flowed away from her hips to the ground, where its edge churned to smoke.

The woman laughed an unnerving sound and said with a voice like the sweet slice of a sharp knife, "I see you've met my children."

"Who are you," Jay demanded and jumped forward holding his sword high. He brought it down in a swoop through the woman's thin waist. It passes by like he had struck nothing more than air. The ravens on the branches shifted and screeched in protest, threatening to resume their assault. The middle of the woman's dress swirled in a smoke and then settled back to the silky fabric reflecting the starry sky. She laughed again and reached out a slim hand to caress Jay's cheek with the back of her long and bony fingers, her touch as cold as a blast of arctic wind.

"I am the night," she answered him, her breath a cool puff on a chilly morning.

Odie gasped with sudden realization, "Jay, she's Nyx."

The Goddess of Night laughed sharply and floated over to where Odie stood. The bottom of her dress dissolved like black dry ice, her hair flowing behind her into the darkness like the water of the Styx. She locked her crystal eyes on his and sent him a cold smile. Odie watched her with wide eyes and mouth agape, leaning back from her stare.

"I am Nyx," she said to him in conformation, she reached her hand for her dress, fingers passing though the fabric as if there was no matter of a person underneath. She pinched a tiny star from the limbo and pulled it out, "A gold star for the boy." It burst into a brilliant light and all of the heroes shielded their eyes. Nyx laughed, the sound coming from everywhere, drilling into skulls. When the spotting light in their vision cleared the blackness was restored and the woman had vanished.

"Nyx," Jay called, "Come back out, why are you here?" Her laugh probed him from the night, like the sting of ice in the gusts of a winter storm. The beating of wings sliced the air once again. In the moments before the mob reached the seven heroes they scrambled together in an effort to shield one another. Talons grabbed at clothing, sliced through skin. Beaks pinched on ears and fingers.

Theresa was tucked up against Jay's chest. He was doing his best to take most of the rapture, but there was still the sharp cut of claws on her neck, the drilling of beaks on her arms. There was something building up deep inside her, an anger with the frustration of her helplessness. Her fingers curled into claws to snag Jay's shirt, a growl resonated from her lungs.

"Enough," the scream ripped from her throat. A flash of purple erupted from her skin, pushed out from her body, forcing the raven's back. With outraged screeches they pecked and scratched at the dome protecting the seven heroes, purple shifting on its surface like the rainbow of soap on a bubble. Breathing heavy the teens leaned against one another in the sudden relief. Blood oozed from scratches on every one of them, every inch of skin pricking with the sensation.

* * *

Opal had wasted six quarters in the school's pay phones. She always forgot the one on the right didn't work properly, all the others were used on missed calls. Finally her cousin answered on her last quarter, they had cancelled the busses and there was no way in hell she was walking home in this. It seemed like an eternity before she spotted his old rusted truck pull into the student lot. Sprinting from the safety of the school's lights she rushed for Glen's truck. She yanked at the door but it held in place. The tendrils of panic churned in her stomach. Balling her fist she banged it on the glass of the window as Glen reached over to unlatch the lock. She pulled the door open, clambered inside and slammed it firmly back in place.

Running shaky fingers through her hair she took in a slow breath and held it. The black bear of a dog sitting between her and Glen whined and nudged her wet nose against Opal's cheek. She pushed at Rye's chest, at this instant she couldn't deal with the dog.

A chuckle came from the driver's seat and Opal sent over a mortified look, "Are you laughing at me?"

"You know, after about like ten years old people aren't afraid of the dark anymore," he said to her.

She didn't respond to his teasing, she just looked back to the road cast in his headlights.

"Oh come on Opal, just calm down," Glen said, "I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation to this."

"Easy enough for you to say," she muttered under her breath as she drew her feet up beneath her legs, leaning up against the passenger door as they drove through the darkness to home.

* * *

"Nyx, show yourself," Jay ordered, still holding Theresa close, the redhead grinding her teeth together in effort to keep the force field protecting them sound. There was a cutting laugh and then a rise of smoke, it cleared and the stunningly beautiful goddess stood underneath.

"You didn't enjoy yourself with my little friends?" she asked, running her long fingers out through her hair, sending a section flowing out to the side, drifting to morph with the night.

"What are you doing here Nyx?" Jay ignored her comment, "I thought you stayed in the underworld."

"I stay in the shadows," she said, and twirled around to dance with the darkness, "and there's been a dark presence growing here for a couple years now. I decided to investigate."

"Cronus," Jay growled.

"Oh yes, my dear nephew," she said, "I heard he had escaped."

"We're going to defeat him," Jay stated.

"I've heard that also, but until then I think I'll stay, I like the darkness of this place," she tossed out her arms and her hair waved out in a shadowy swell.

"You can't stay here, you've cast this whole place in darkness," Jay said.

"Oh," she sighed pityingly and reached out her ice hand to cup his face, "I'm not leaving."

"Then we'll just have to make you," he held his sword out in the ready. She reached up a slender hand to place in front of her plump lips and chuckled. The shadows began to shift in ways they only did in children's imaginations.

"You can't make me do anything," she sneered. The ravens rose up in a tornado. The moving shadows passed under Theresa's dome, they lashed out to fasten feet to the ground. There was the cracking of raven calls and screeches, the beating of hundreds of pairs of wings. Theresa let out a throat tearing scream and her wall crumbled, shattering like glass as the ravens drilled their beaks through. Cutting though the commotion was the cruel ring of satisfied laughter.

They were completely and utterly helpless under the swarms of ravenous birds, held fast to the ground by impossibly solid shadows. They screamed and huddled down to the ground, shielding their heads from the probing bills of the ravens. Jay's mind couldn't function under the rapture, he had no inkling of a plan. There was no way to fight them all. The rationalist in his brain began to prod at him, whisper in his ear that just might be the end. He was just starting to listen when a blue portal swirled open and Hera stepped through with a blast of light. The birds scattered and the shadows burst.

"Nyx," Hera called with a stern force and the air swirled into a smoke.

"You called?" the Goddess of Night smirked as she appeared.

"You cannot be here," the Queen of the Gods said.

"You can do nothing to stop me," she said simply, inspecting her nails.

"Stay in the night where you belong."

"Oh," she flashed her hand over a yawn, "Yes, I suppose."

"Go," Hera demanded.

"You better hope your heroes are strong enough to beat your father," she stepped forward to lean into Hera's face, arms akimbo, "New Years Hera, they have until New Years to defeat him and then I'm back for good." She vanished in an explosion of smoke, with her went her ravens and the black sky began to fade into the blue of the day. The teens stayed crouched on the ground in complete shock as the sun filtered through the green leaves of the trees. The birds began to sing again and the light breeze resumed its combing across the land.

"We couldn't do it," Jay hung his head in shame, "If we can't beat Cronus by New Years what's going to happen to the city?"

"Jay," Hera placed a hand on his shoulder, "Nyx is a powerful goddess, much more powerful than Cronus. She was one of the very first beings like Gaia. Now come along, all we can worry about now is getting Cronus back to where he belongs." Shakily the group got to their feet in the warm sun. The day beautiful and happy like the darkness had never been there at all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Opal hummed, pulling at her hair in nervous habit as she slipped into her homeroom class, she watched Herry smirk down at his phone in his lap as she walked over to her desk. She set down her books and took a step past her seat to sand beside his desk. Tapping the flat side of a loosely closed fist into the palm of her hand she waited for him to look up. It took him a moment; she was just about to clear her throat when he sent over a curious gaze.

"Hey," she said, shrugging her shoulders as she reached up a hand to tug at the curls at the back of her neck, "I, ah, just wanted to apologize about yesterday morning. What did the news say? Solar eclipse. You probably think I'm crazy now."

"Don't worry about it," he said, "If I was scared of the dark I'd be losing my shit too."

"Thanks?" she drew her brows together for a moment and then shook her head, "It be great if you could just forget all that."

"Done," he said with a smile.

"Kay, good," she held out her hands flat palmed towards him and backed away to take a seat at her desk. She let out a slow breath as she ran her fingers through her hair. That whole situation the morning prior had probably been the most embarrassing thing she had ever done in front of a guy, let alone a guy that she liked. What was she thinking, accusing him of something ludicrous like that and then bursting into tears. That was just it, she wasn't thinking. Funny the things fear could influence one to do.

She was for once grateful when the bell rang. She could focus on the lecture rather than how much of a fool she'd been. Rice ended the class early to declare their next project, to research a Greek myth of their choosing and present to the class. He announced it would be done in partners and Opal groaned at the revelation, she hated group work. She did what she always did and waited until the scramble of people died down to look for someone else that hadn't yet found someone to work with.

"You and me then?" she turned to Herry, seeing he took on her same strategy, and he did seem to know what he was talking about in this subject.

"Yeah, I guess so," he muttered, turning away to rub the back of his neck, "anything you want to do?"

"I don't know," she shrugged and named the first thing that came to mind, "Hercules?"

She watched him stiffen and then he looked back to her to shake his head, "I bet he'll be overdone."

"Kay," she nodded and looked down to her twirling thumbs in thought.

"Look it up tonight," Herry said, "I can really do anything. It doesn't matter to me."

"Sure," she nodded and then glanced at the clock; there was still twenty minutes of class.

"We could skip out early," he leaned forward to say in a quiet whisper. She sent him a quick glance and couldn't help but return his smirk. Rice was occupied talking over topics with other students, and there was a clear shot to the door.

"Let's go," she scooped up her books and quickly strode out into the hallway, looking behind her she laughed, "You're a bad influence, I've never skipped before."

"What?" he said, "No way, you're a senior and you've never skipped?"

"Well maybe for a dentist appointment," she said with a sheepish smile. Herry just shook his head and laughed.

"I have bio next, I could skip that if you want to grab an early lunch," he said, "and I never did get that lunch with you."

"I don't know," she shrugged sharply. He bit his lip and squinted at her for a moment, uncomfortable under his gaze Opal reached up to twirl her bang around her finger. Hesitantly she asked, "What?"

"Nothing," he said and shifted his gaze down the hallway. He had always been in the habit of making friends with his locker neighbors. Most just smiled and struck up easy, casual conversations. Opal was really the only one that always seemed to be looking for a way out of any conversation. He had started taking more notice of her around school, he'd spot her in the library or in the halls every now and then, she was always alone.

"Hey," he voiced and then drew up short, '_Do you have any friends?'_ might seem a little rude, "Ah, who do you hang out with?"

"I don't really hang out with anyone," she shrugged sharply. He hummed and looked away, back down the hall. He used to be like that, back in his old school. Being alone was never that bad. However, that was until he found himself here with a great group of people he was proud to not only call friends, but family. Being alone went from something he liked to realizing it was something he just accepted. The inner turmoil started to churn, like the dipping of a wooden spoon into a caldron.

There was something that was nagging at him to pull her out of her rut, but another part reminded him about the precious morning. She may think she was being unreasonable now, but she had been completely correct, to a certain degree he did know what was going on. He had secrets he couldn't afford for her to know. As much as this whole crazy situation with Cronus had introduced him to the closest friends he could ever hope to have, it also closed the door to anyone else he may feel the inclination to open himself up to.

He sighed as he watched her spin her lock from the corner of his eye as he slowly entered his own combo. Perhaps nothing more than acquaintances at school could come from this for now, but maybe someday, when he didn't have to worry about mental gods taking over the world it could become more. He dumped his books into his locker, letting them pile in an unorganized mess of papers at the bottom. Right here and right now he could see no issues in being friendly with her, as locker neighbors and classmates. When she bent over to collect an instrument case of some kind he reached over to snap her lock closed from where it was hooked on the corner of the open door. She shot up a confused look, which quickly narrowed in irritation when she realized what he had done.

"Hey," she said with a slight scowl, narrowing in her gaze on his lock she lunged to pull the same stunt, but he swiped it up just in time. She sent him another glare, but he could see the smile tugging at the corner of her lips, "I'll get you back for that."

"I'd like to see you try," he smiled and closed his locker, leaning against the door he pointed down to the concealed instrument and asked, "What do you play?"

"Umm, this is my violin," she said, smiling down at the case in her hands, "but, I started on the piano."

"Cool," he said.

"Yeah," she muttered, still looking down to her instrument, "Do you play anything?"

He laughed and then shook his head, "No way, but when I was little my Gran did write out numbers on the keys of her piano for me to follow, so on her piano, and her piano only, I can play twinkle-twinkle little star."

She laughed and quickly covered her mouth with her hand, almost like she was surprised the noise just came out of her. Still the smile reached her eyes, brightened up her face in a way that made Herry's heart flutter.

"Music class next?" he cleared his throat and shook off the unexpected sensation.

"Yeah," she looked up to him, still smiling in good nature.

"I guess I can't ask you to skip music class," he let out an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes, smiling when she sent him a toothy grin.

"I'll see you later then?" she said as she turned to go off down the hall.

"Yeah," he gave her a wave and slouched further against his locker as he watched her leave, "Hey, Opal wait."

She stopped and turned to give him a curious look from a few paces down the hall.

"Look up Orpheus tonight," he said, "You might like him."

"Orpheus?" she repeated, confusion creeping up on her face.

"Yeah, he's a musician in Greek Mythology."

"Oh," she lit up in understanding, "Yeah okay." Then she turned and continued her way down the hall, off to class.

* * *

Jay was biting at his thumbnail as he and Theresa strolled through the park. He watched his feet as they walked, lost in his own thoughts. Theresa shifted her gaze from him to the trail in front of them. Biting the corner of her lip she hesitantly reached out a hand and slipped her fingers in between his. He startled and jerked slightly as he looked over with wide eyes. She offered him a bashful smile and gripped his hand tighter.

"Loosen up Jay, just walk with me," she said and slowly leaned her head over to rest on his shoulder.

"Theresa," he scolded and shook off her hand, stepping away from her, "This is serious. We never had a time limit before, if we can't beat Cronus by New Years… I'm starting to think this dragon in the storm isn't one of Cronus' ideas. What if it's just like Nyx, drawn to the energy. What if more and more monsters start showing up? We're going to be overrun."

"Then we beat him by New Years," she said.

"How?" he tossed out his hands in exasperation, "We've been at this for almost two years. All we've been able to do it just hold him back. How are we going to get him back in Tartarus, October's almost finished?"

"I don't know Jay," she muttered and looked away, reaching over a hand to rub her opposite arm.

He groaned and smacked his face into his hands.

"We'll figure this out," she said quietly.

"I'm going back to the dorm," he announced and turned on his heel.

"What?" she shot her head up and jumped after him, "Jay, come on. You said you would go on a walk with me. When was the last time we did something together?"

"There will be plenty of time after Cronus is back where he belongs," Jay called over his shoulder. Theresa stopped and huffed, sending him a sneer as he ploughed away.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Opal whipped up her laptop on the front porch, the sun was still holding fast to the autumn and she wanted to soak up as much of the sun as she could before the rainy winter came in. She sat cross legged on the concrete with her computer in front of her, the light breeze playing with her curls. She did a Google search on Orpheus and clicked the Wikipedia link. Son of Apollo, played the lyre.

A lyre. Opal remembered seeing one on a class trip years before, back in Victoria when she was in grade school. Staring at it though the glass, she wondered what kinds of sounds it made. She had asked the museum interpreter if she could play it, and consequently learned museums were very strict with their policies. Sidetracked she clicked on the link for the instrument. Scanning the page she learned Hermes had been the one to design it, from a turtle shell and the entrails of a cow he had stolen from Apollo. He presented the lyre to the God of the Sun in apology for stealing his cattle. Kind of seemed counter intuitive, kill the god's cow to make him an instrument in apology for stealing said cow. Why not just give it back with intestines still inside?

"Hey Chickadee, what are you doing?" she jumped when her father reached down a hand to ruffle her hair. He was just getting home from work, smelling of fish and ocean salt.

"Hay dad," she smiled, closing her laptop to walk inside with him, "just looking up about Orpheus for a school project."

"Orpheus, eh?" he rubbed the blonde stubble on his chin in thought for a moment, "let me wash up and then I'll show you something."

"Kay," she nodded leaving her father for his usual post work shower, taking a seat at the piano to pass the time while she waited. When he came back downstairs he was carrying an old leather book, his wet hair was freshly combed back, and dressed in pajamas. Opal took a seat beside him on the couch. Even though he had just showered the smell of his profession always lingered on her father, she could still smell the harbor on him.

"This is your mother's, it's been passed down for generations," John passed her the book, and gently she lifted it from him, "There's some neat stuff in there, but can't read a word of it, came from the ancient Greek days apparently."

"Orpheus," Opal muttered, running her fingers over the engraved letters. She opened it on her lap to find pages after pages of music, "Do you know who he was?"

"A musician," he offered her a smug smile, like he always did when he thought he was being funny.

"Thank you for that riveting information father, what would I ever do without your keen advice," she shot back and they laughed.

"Your mom doesn't seem to think it was the Orpheus, but I don't know, it's fun to believe so sometimes," he smiled, "Though he did have a large religious following back in the day, I would imagine his name was put on a lot of things."

"Shouldn't it be in a museum?"

"Play some of the music and you'll know why no one ever took it to a museum," he tapped his crooked nose, from various breaks, and pointed at the piano. Opal nodded and took back her place in front of the instrument, turning the dusty pages with gentle care as she looked for a piece to perform. The music was not written for a piano, but nonetheless she played out the notes. It flowed together beautifully, enticing Opal to continue playing out the melody.

"Is this for a lyre?" she asked, taking her hands back to turn around and face her father.

"I'd assume so Chickadee," he nodded and got to his feet, "I'll start dinner, you go get your mother from the garden, and tell her she's my Eurydice."

"Kay," she nodded and let herself out the back door. Dressed in overalls, her mother was kneeling over some flourishing tomato plants directly in the sun. There was a basket of the plant's fruit along with other vegetables from the garden, green onions and radish. Percival was sitting in a lawn chair beside the garden, both of them laughing. The man wasn't around much, came in late and went out early most days, but the moments she could catch him Opal would inquire about her grandmother and her mother's childhood.

"Is your father home?" noticing her daughter Ophelia leaned back on her heals and wiped her dirt covered hand over her already smudged brow.

"Yeah, he's starting dinner and he says to tell you that your his Uri-dee," she struggled with the name.

"Eurydice," she corrected, "well you can tell him, my husband is not my Orpheus because the man was a fool."

"Why?" Opal asked.

"Eurydice was bitten by a venomous snake the morning of their wedding, so Orpheus went to the underworld and played his lyre for Hades to get her back. Hades agreed to let Eurydice free as long as he didn't look back at her before they were out of the underworld," Percival said, "Interesting character Orpheus is."

"And he did?" Opal said.

"He did," her mother stated, getting to her feet, bringing the basket of vegetables with her.

"That does seem foolish," Opal noted, turning to follow her inside. Ophelia dropped the basket on the counter beside her husband, who sent her a knowing smile.

"What did she say?" he looked over his shoulder to his daughter.

"Orpheus was a fool."

"Orpheus only looked back because his bride didn't answer when he called her name," he stated, leaning over to place a kiss on his wife's head as she washed the soil off her hands.

"Don't listen to him," Ophelia announced, "that's not written in any of the myths."

"I know that's what happened," he smirked, "I'd be scared shitless if I had to lead you through a tunnel in hell, I'd be calling your name every twenty seconds to make sure you were there Dove. I'd be hard pressed not to look back if you didn't answer."

"John, you're such a sap," she swatted him and plucked up a knife to dice the onions. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her, placing his hands over hers to guide the slices through the onions. Dropping the knife Ophelia turned around in his toned arms to face her husband and pull him in for a deep kiss.

"Mom, dad, get a room," Opal exclaimed from the kitchen table.

"We are in a room Chickadee," her mother looked over her father's broad shoulders to say with a smirk. Opal groaned and scooped up the book to retreat outside.

* * *

Theresa slammed the door behind her as she stormed into the brownstone, causing it to rattle in its frame. She stomped up the stairs and drew a curious Atlanta out into the hallway. The fiery redhead poked her head out of her room and called to her friend. Theresa snapped her head around, fists clenched at her side and chest heaving.

"What's the matter?" Atlanta asked, leaning against her doorframe, crossing one foot over her ankle.

"Jay," she huffed, tossing up tense hands.

"What he do now?" she smirked and waved the taller girl over. With an irritated huff Theresa took Atlanta's invitation and swept into her room, drooping down on the crumpled covers of her bed.

"He's just doing what he always does," Theresa tossed up her hands and slouched back, "Can't he just forget about Cronus for one second and worry about us?"

"Don't worry about it too much Theresa," Atlanta said, "Everything's been a little tenser around here, I mean with what Nyx said. We all know Jay cares about you."

"Yeah," she sighed and looked up to the ceiling light.

"You know what I do when Archie pisses me off?" she asked in cheery nature, smacking her friend on the arm with the back of her hand.

"What?" Theresa sent over an inquiring gaze.

Swooping over to her desk she picked up her field hockey stick and began swinging it around in the air, "I print off a picture of his face and slam field hockey balls into it."

"Ah," the corner of Theresa's lip pulled up in a sneer as she watched the unnatural joy that came to Atlanta's face, "I don't think disfiguring Jay's face will make me feel any better."

"Yeah, it's not for everyone," she shrugged and set her hockey stick back down to lean against her desk, "I'll talk to Archie about it though. Maybe if Jay hears it from one of the guys he'll listen a little more."

"Thanks Atlanta," Theresa smiled and got to her feet, "What do you say we hit the mall for a bit?"

"I do need a new pair of cleats," she said, "And I haven't had a chance to check out the new sports store in the mall yet."

"Perfect, let's go," Theresa sent the smaller girl a bright smile and ushered her out of her room and down to the landing. Atlanta may find violence as an anger outlet, but Theresa preferred to hinder her father's bank account.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_Meet by my truck after school, and then we'll head over to my place,_ is what Herry had told her before she rushed out of their English class. Opal inspected the tank of a vehicle while she waited, but didn't dare touch it. The truck had its rumors just like the people that rode around in it. All of them came to the same conclusion, stay away from it unless you want to see the big one angry. Herry was probably happy for that rumor, no one ever parked beside his truck in the student lot because of it. Opal didn't even know they made trucks like this, it was a beast.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," his voice called and she startled, taking a jump away from the impeccably shined machine, "I, ah, got a little caught up."

"Sure," she whispered with an accepting nod as he unlocked his truck and climbed in. She watched him through the passenger door's window as he stuck the key into the ignition and the engine came roaring to life. He looked to her then, an amused grin tugging at his lips as he leaned over to unlock the passenger door and swing it open.

"You coming?" he asked with a crooked smile.

"Yeah," she brushed at her bangs and hauled herself inside. She quickly took in the cab of his truck; it looked like a military vehicle. What was up with the seatbelts, they were like harnesses. She fumbled with the latch for a moment.

"What do you listen to?" he asked, flicking on the radio.

"Anything," she shrugged so he left it on the country station. She leaned against the passenger door, as far away from him as she could manage while he drove her out of town.

"So?" Herry piped, searching for a conversation topic to alleviate the silence, "how was your day?"

"Good, yours?" she said.

"Fine," he said and they feel into another silence before he told her, "Yeah, so I'm going to apologize for my Granny now, she's… interesting."

She nodded, sparing a glance in his direction. She took the chance while his mind was occupied on driving to study him more closely then she usually had the opportunity to. It was odd how crushes plunked down on her. In her mind the ideal guy was not a foot taller than she was and did not look like he could be a candidate as a body builder. There was something about his muscles that fascinated her though, how they moved under his skin like a machine oiled to perfection. She knew it must take dedication to achieve and maintain a body like his, but it was the little things that really grabbed her attention. Like how his calves flexed under his skin with every footstep, how the tendons in his wrist would twitch up to his forearm as he wrote, or the jump in his pecks when he tossed his duffle over his shoulder.

She shifted her gaze to his face. It was his smile that caused her initial attraction to him. He nearly always had a smile on his face and took next to nothing to get him to laugh. When he smiled big enough to pull out those little dimples in his cheeks she couldn't help but smile herself. His nose looked surprisingly intact, no crooked signs of breaks she was so use to seeing in her father's nose.

Opal leaned forward as they turned down a road with small quant houses, all of them on the edge of the costal forest. The neighborhood was close to her home, but she had never been around it. The driveway Herry pulled into had a well tended, blooming garden, a stone walkway to a wooden porch with many more flowers in planters and boxes. The driveway was obviously hardly used. Grass had moved in to cover it in all but two depressions from tires. Jumping out of the passenger's side Opal followed Herry up to the door.

"Gran, It's me," he announced as he opened the door. Opal waited outside as she watched a woman even shorter than she was hobble out of the kitchen to greet her grandson, reaching up a hand to pinch his cheek. The elderly woman took a glance behind Herry out onto the patio.

"Herry?" she asked him suddenly, "Who is this? Do you have a girlfriend?"

"What," he said, choking out his words, "No, Granny, I don't have a girlfriend, remember I told you I had an English project."

"Oh yes, I just thought you would be bringing one of your friends," the woman smiled, "what's it on dear?"

"Greek mythology," Herry said as he gestured for Opal to come in and hesitantly she did.

"Oh well that won't be a problem for you, being a hero –"

"Gran," he interjected, slicing the air in front of his throat with his hand. He turned to Opal and, noticing the curious looks she was giving him, laughed nervously, "Should we get started then?"

"Sure," Opal nodded following him into the living room taking a seat beside him on the couch. Herry dropped a laptop on the coffee table and flicked it on, waiting for it to whirl to life he said, "So you liked Orpheus?"

"Yeah, unless you want to do something else," she said.

"No, that's fine," Herry said clicking on the log in profile with his name and quickly typed in the password it requested.

"Hey, why do you spell your name with an e instead of an a?" she noted.

"Um, family name," his response was unsure, like so many of his answers to her questions, but he quickly turned the question away from himself, "What about Opal, not a very common name."

"It's October's birthstone, I was born in October and it's my mom's favourite gem," she told him, "Apparently it was my grandmother's favourite too, but I never met her."

"All right," he nodded in acceptance and then pulled up a Google search, "What does opal look like anyways?"

"Pictures don't really do it justice," she said, "I'll get my mom to show you her engagement ring sometime, it has an opal."

"Cool," he nodded and then got on topic, pulling up an already started word document on the subject. She quickly scanned over what he had written. What he had summarized was what she had learned from her parents the night before.

"Any ideas on how to present this?" she asked.

"Actually," he sent her a sideways smirk.

"What?" she asked skeptically.

"If I could get you a lyre, could you learn a song in time to perform it?"

"You can get a lyre? Where do you even find one?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"I have friends in high places," he smiled crookedly, "So, what do you say?"

"Yeah, bring it on," the excitement plastered itself onto her face. This was an opportunity she never thought she would have, remembering her book she reached for her bag by her feet, "Take a look at this."

He smiled to himself as he watched her. She was infectious when she was happy like this. She flipped open her bag and pulled out a leather bound journal. She offered it over to him and he drew his brows together as he took it, reading the name on the cover. He sent her a curious look, running his eyes up and down her, seeing her in a way he hadn't expected to. He knew his gaze was making her uncomfortable. She shrank back into herself and began tugging at her bangs.

"Where did you get this?" he whispered, gently flipping through the music.

"It's my mom's, passed down for generations apparently," she told him.

"Shit," he set it on the coffee table in front of him, gripping his knees as he processed this new revelation.

"What?" she inquired softly.

"Ah, sorry, that's just really, really… interesting," he looked over to her, "family heirlooms… yeah, it's cool."

"Do you think it could have been him?" Opal asked.

_Yes I do,_ he thought to himself, catching himself right before he nodded, he answered her with a joking smile, "How common of a name was Orpheus?"

"Herry!" came a yell from the kitchen.

"Yes Gran?" he eagerly got to his feet to escape the conversation.

"Will you go get me some herbs from the garden?" she asked sweetly and he obliged.

"No problem," he turned to walk through the living room to the back door, "I'll be right back Opal."

"Sure," she nodded and took the chance to glance around the room. There were some pictures on a table pressed up against the wall that initially got her attention. One of Herry and his Granny fishing, it looked fairly recent, and there was more from his childhood. There was one of him playing with a teddy bear, wiggling it in his Granny's face. She had to admit he was a cute kid, chunky, but cute. Opal continued to glance around the room, spotting a piano in the far corner.

Humming she rose to her feet and padded over to the kitchen, "Um, excuse me, Herry's Granny, can I play your piano?"

"Of course dear," she smiled over her shoulder at her from where she was chopping various vegetables, "and you can just call me Granny."

"Okay," she nodded, "Thanks." Smiling brightly she slipped over to the instrument up against the wall, a dark mahogany. She lifted back the cover lying over the keys with a gentle motion. She laughed lightly seeing the little pieces of masking tape with purple numbers stuck to some of the keys, knowing if she followed that progression she would hear twinkle-twinkle little star.

She sat down on the bench, extending her arms to rotate her wrists before gingerly poising them to being. She started playing some classical music, her fingers floating over the keys as she pressed them. She closed her eyes and swayed with the music, putting the full force of her body into the crescendo and leaning back as the song dwindled to a close.

"That's beautiful," Herry's Granny said from the doorway when she finished the piece, "keep playing."

"Kay," she smiled and continued. Herry walked in moments later, freezing when he heard the music. He didn't know much about music, but he knew this didn't give him the usual feeling he got when he listened to classical stuff, and that feeling was sleepy. It all just made his suspicions of her as a descendent of Orpheus stronger. He reached into his pocked for his PMR. Hiding it down at his side he recorded the tail end of her performance. Hastily snapping it shut when she finished and looked over to him, the movement drew her eyes to his side before he had time to jam it back into his pocket.

"Here Granny," he ignored her looks and handed over a fistful of plants.

"Ah, thanks Herry," the woman beamed and patted his forearm, "You're such a good boy."

"Ready?" he turned back to Opal and jutted his thumb over to his laptop. She nodded and slipped back to the couch for them to continue planning out their project. It didn't take exceptionally long and when they were finished he offered to give her a ride back home.

Back in his truck she said, "Hey, I thought you lived in town."

"Umm, yeah," he said, "I live with a few people, but they're kind of touchy with bringing guests over."

"Oh," she nodded, "you're all scholarship students, right?"

"What?" his face contorted in confusion for a moment before he remembered the alibi Hermes had created for them, "Oh yeah, wrestling scholarship, for me at least."

"Mmm," she nodded and then asked him with a grin, "Does your Granny call every girl you bring home your girlfriend?"

He smiled and gave a hardy laugh, "No, sorry about that, but I did already apologize for anything she would do on the way over here." She smiled at his answer, but nothing more. She had hoped her question would make his cheeks a little red, make it look like he was a little uncomfortable with the whole situation. Nothing, he was just as chill as he usually was. She didn't receive any of the hints she was looking for, that maybe he liked her as more than a causal friend from school.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Herry lay on his back staring up at his ceiling as he pressed the replay on his PMR's audio file. He nibbled at the inside of his lip as he thought, he had already been apprehensive about his relationship with Opal. It wasn't necessarily the idea of her finding out about his ridiculously unbelievable life fighting a god that made him wary, it was the thought of Cronus finding out about her. Now that he knew she was like him, shared the blood of Olympians, it only made that concern worse. It just made her a larger target for Cronus. The god would use her as a tool if he ever found out about her and he couldn't stand the thought of dragging her into that terror.

A light knock sounded at his door and Herry startled, knocking his phone off his stomach to the floor with a clatter. He cursed under his breath as he reached to the floor to scoop up the device still playing the file. Jay cracked open the door and slipped inside.

"I was wondering what that was," he smirked, "I didn't see you bring a piano into your room anytime recently."

Herry sent him an irritated glare and cut off the sound to his PMR.

"That is good thought, who was playing?" Jay asked looking at Herry's PMR now on his bedside table.

"My English partner," he said, hesitating as he considered telling Jay more. He did want the man's opinion on her and her possible lineage, but he didn't want to reveal his suspicions and end up being ordered to stop talking to her. Jay might see her as a liability to have around the team. He almost wanted Jay to think that so he would have a reason to stop talking to her, but he was terrified at the thought of Jay coming to that conclusion. It was all so backwards. He hummed and sighed, he couldn't hide things like this from Jay, "She had an old book with Orpheus' name on it."

Jay's eyes widened with surprise, quietly he asked, "You think she's his descendent?"

"What do you think?" Herry asked.

"I mean yeah, she had a book with Orpheus' name on it and she plays like that," Jay gestured to the device, "we can't be the only descendants of Greek Heroes right? Remember Medelia?"

Herry nodded and dropped onto his back again. He bit the inside of his lip and sucked in a deep breath through his nose, drawing up the confidence to ask through his anxiety he said, "So, what do you want to do about it?"

"I say just leave it," Jay said with a shrug, "it would be better if she didn't know Cronus existed."

"Yeah, kay," Herry nodded, scooping up his PMR to tuck away in his pocket as he rolled out of his bed and onto his feet. Brushing past Jay he took in a deep breath and made his way to Odie's room.

"Hey man, what's up?" Odie spared his friend a quick glace from the game on his computer screen when he walked in.

"Nothing," he plopped down on the rumpled comforter covering Odie's twin bed, "Still stuck on Sarcraft eh?"

"Yeah, almost finished this game, after want to play?"

"You always kick my ass at that game."

"You know it," Odie laughed, fingers blaring over his keyboard, an accustom sound to be found in the boy's room. Herry stuck his hand in his pocket and began fiddling with his PMR, snapping the battery cover off and then back on.

"Hey Odie," he asked the boy's bed covers, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure buddy, ask away," he said.

"My English partner has an old notebook with Orpheus' name on it and it's full of music," he took his PMR from his pocket, "She played my Gran's piano for a bit and shit she was good, take a listen." Odie froze as the song came flowing out of the phone's speakers, he swiveled his computer chair around, face agape.

"She has to be his descendent," he said.

"Yeah, Jay thinks so too."

"What did he say about it?"

"Just let her keep believing she's like anyone else."

"Fare enough," Odie nodded and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, "Ignorance is bliss."

"Yeah," Herry scoffed, picking at a loose thread on the comforter he was laying on, "Your base is under attack, by the way."

"Shit," Odie yelled, turning back to his computer he initiated a counter strike, but in a few moments the game faded and 'You Lost' appeared on the screen, "Damn it Herry, I was winning before you came in."

"You're welcome," Herry gave him a smirk and cleared his throat, "But, about my English partner, don't you think it's risky for me to be around her? I mean with Cronus always around."

"I suppose," Odie shrugged, "But what are you going to do man? Tell her, 'I'm sorry I can't work with you on this project anymore because I'm afraid my arch nemesis is going to kidnap you and make you giant food.' Although, that would solve your problem, she probably wouldn't want to work with a crazy person."

He breathed out a laugh and shook his head.

"Now are you ready to get your ass owned?" Odie opened up his laptop to whip up a game of starcraft and waved his friend over.

"Don't be so full of it," he jumped off the bed and pulled up a chair. Maybe he was just being over cautious about this whole thing, neither Jay or Odie seemed to have his concern about her and Cronus finding out about one another.

* * *

Archie sat with back straight as a board, watching Atlanta closely through focused eyes. They were sitting on her bed cross legged and facing one another, his hands on top of hers, their palms together as their hands hovered in the space between them. She had a mischievous smirk on her face, but he wouldn't be distracted. Her hands jerked out from under his and smacked down hard on his fingers. He hadn't been quite fast enough to escape.

"Damn it," he hunched his shoulders and shook off the sting before he held his hands out again, this time palm up. Atlanta placed hers on his and stared him in the eye. He faked her out, pulling back slightly. She snatched back her hands to her chest and he gave a disappointed shake of his head. She huffed and placed her hands back on his. He tried to fake her out again and then on the third time brought his hands up in an attempt to smack hers, but they harmlessly fell through the empty air.

Atlanta sent him a smug grin as she held her hands out palm up, he resisted the urge to kiss that smirk off her face and placed his throbbing and red hands back on hers. He took in a deep breath and she took the second he was taking to prepare himself to whack his hands with her palms.

"Hey, not fare," he scowled.

"Sure it is," she laughed, "If you're not ready don't put down your hands."

"Redo," he held out his hands palm down and narrowed his eyes at her. She placed her palms up against his and smiled.

"Has Jay seemed tense to you too?" she asked, jerking her hands back in a fake. He gasped and twitched them back.

"Yeah, of course, he's in one of those moods," Archie replied, placing his hands back.

"Okay yeah, but do you think maybe he's going over the top?"

"Think he's about as usual as he ever is."

"Well do you think maybe you could talk to him, He really upset Theresa the other day," she said.

"Atlanta," he whined and slouched his shoulders. She took the opportunity to slap the top of his hands. He cursed and shook them out, holding them in front of his face to inspect the cherry colour there.

"Baby's hands hurting?" she taunted and sent him a mocking pout. He couldn't resist kissing that. Ignoring her comment he leaned forward, pressing his knuckles into the mattress on either side of her. He stopped his advance when he felt the pressure on his chest, looking down he saw Atlanta's tiny hand sprawled there. He glanced into her eyes, laced with sudden panic.

"What are you doing?" she asked harshly.

"I, ah…" he cleared his throat and sat back, "Atlanta, don't you think we should act on our feelings? I mean with Cronus and everything. I just want to make sure you know."

"I don't know," she shifted off her mattress and wrapped her arms around herself, turning her back to him. He glared at her, every time he tried this, every time she would block him out. Today it was not going to happen again. He got to his feet spun her around, he was just about to press his lips to hers when… _bang, bang, bang. _

Gasping in panic Archie turned his gaze over towards the door, but it stayed firmly in its frame. From the other side he could hear Jay in the hallway, calling them to come downstairs. Breathing hard Archie looked over to Atlanta, and flinched under her glare.

"I guess we should get down there," she stated and stomped over to the door.

"Yeah, best not keep Jay waiting when he's PMSing," he nodded, trying a joking attempt to alleviate the tension. Atlanta didn't make any hints she appreciated it. With a heavy sigh he followed behind in her angry wake.

* * *

Whenever Cronus attacked it always meant two things. First, there was some rampaging monster that needed to be dealt with and second, there was a mess to clean up that said monster had left. Nothing could be done about the uprooted trees, but they could at least be moved off of the road. Jay sent Herry a pleading look and the larger man groaned as he obliged.

"You know it's not fare that I always get stuck with all the heavy lifting," he said as he unlocked his truck for the team to pile in.

"But there's no one better for the job," Jay said with a smile, reaching up to slap his shoulder before he climbed inside. A cloud of dust rose up from the green fabric. Herry gave a small huff and hopped in himself. The muscle in the back of his right leg ceased, he hummed in irritated consideration as he ran his fingers over his muscles. He knew he shouldn't have taken that jump at that beast without stretching, he would probably feel that more in the morning. With a heavy breath he turned his attention back to his truck, turning the key in the ignition before he could start off down the road.

"Okay," Jay stated, turning to look at Archie and Atlanta, one in the front and the second in the back of the truck, both had their arms crossed, "What was up with you two today? You know we have to work smoothly, like a team. If you guys are having a fight that's okay, you just need to forget about it when we're relying on you two to work together." Atlanta shot Jay a cold stare from across the bench of the back seat, locking eyes with him for a moment before she turned her gaze back out the window.

"Hey Herry, do you think you could drop me off at the mall on the way home?" Theresa asked after the silence had dragged on for a while.

"Sure," he said.

"Me too," Neil whined, like a puppy that had just learned he was being left behind for a walk.

"I think I'll come too," Atlanta said, keeping her sight out the window, "I don't want to get back to the brownstone just yet."

"Kay, whatever," Herry said as he navigated the city roads to the mall. He pulled up to one of the building's double doors for the three to hop out. The relief that washed over Archie was instant, his shoulders hunched and his crossed arms dropped to his lap.

"You really did get in a fight didn't you," Herry said, laughing as he reached over a hand to smack Archie's arm.

"We did not," he shot back with narrowed eyes under eyebrows mashed together. Herry only laughed harder.

"Archie," Odie piped from the back, "that's not exactly the most convincing of denials."

"We didn't get in a fight though," he exclaimed, twisting around to face the Jay and Odie in the back, "It's just… Atlanta, she's so infuriating sometimes."

"Well, what happened?" Jay asked. Archie turned red all the way up to his hairline. Snapping his mouth shut he turned back around in his seat and stared out the front window. His company erupted into laughter.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Herry looked down at his bag crumpled in the bottom of his locker and groaned. Did he really need to bend down and get it? Was there anything in there that was pressingly important? Yes, he had that lyre in there. Slowly he shifted his weight off his right leg and reached down to grab it. He hissed trough his teeth as he straightened, reaching his hand around to press his fingers into the back of his leg, the muscles there screaming in agony.

"What's the matter with you?" Opal asked him, glancing over from her locker.

"Ah, I think I pulled my hamstring," he said, "hurts like a bitch."

"What did you do?"

"Didn't stretch before we had to… ah, before wrestling practice, yeah, something like that," he drew his brows together as he talked through his answer. In a quick attempt to distract her from his answer he pulled his duffle bag in front of himself to zip open the top and tug out the lyre inside.

"Oh my god," she exclaimed, dropping her bag at her feet in consequence of her hands shooting up to cover her mouth. She shifted her wide eyes from the instrument to Herry's and then back again. She reached out a delicate hand, fingers hovering over the shimming gold surface. Her eyes flashed up to his once more with expectancy, waiting for his permission to touch. He couldn't keep the chuckle in if he tried.

"Go ahead," he said. She lifted it from his hands as gently as she might a butterfly, turning it over to inspect its immaculate form.

"This is… Oh. My. God."

An absentminded smile tugged on Herry's lips as he watched her in her wide eyed wonder.

"Hey," she jarred her head up to look at to him in inquiry, "Come to the music room with me so I can give it a try?"

"Ah, sure," he replied a little caught off guard, he hadn't expected an invitation like that from his quite little locker neighbor, or any request for him to come with her anywhere for that matter. She gave him a bright smile, so big it squished out her round cheeks and almost crinkled her eyes closed. Spinning on her heels she went to lead him down the hall. Herry waited for a moment in hesitation, pointing down to her bag forgotten on the floor. He considered bending down to get it when he realized she wasn't going to remember, but the floor was so far away for a strained hamstring. Instead he called her name and gestured down at the pack.

"Oh," she hopped back on quick feet to scoop it up and toss over her shoulder, "I totally forgot." She sent him another toothy smile and started off down the hall once more. The music room was practically abandoned. The only remaining soul was the teacher, he offered his prized student a warm greeting when she walked in, but his face dropped when he noticed what she was holding. Instantly Apollo's gaze turned to a glare directed at the boy behind her. Herry looked away from the god sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Excuse me for a moment Opal," Apollo said, taking Herry's arm as he brushed by the teen and led him out into the hall.

"No problem Mr. Palool," she said.

"Palool?" Herry taunted.

"What? It's an anagram of Apollo," the god defended, "but that's not what we're talking about. Why did you give her a lyre?"

"I, ah, think she's a descendent of Orpheus," he muttered the only reasonable explanation he had on giving her the instrument.

The god was taken aback. He stepped back into the room and observed his student in a new light. She was plucking at the stings, getting a feel for the instrument. When she was confident she understood the sounds it made she pulled out her mother's old journal.

"No," Apollo muttered.

"What?" Herry asked.

"That book, I gave it to Orpheus," the god said but kept his eyes on the girl. Her first run through the song was a little rough, but she did it again and again till it ran smoothly. Smiling in satisfaction she set the lyre down on her lap and looked over to the two men at the door.

"Chickadee," Apollo muttered.

Opal sent him a surprised and skeptical look, her smile vaporizing in a second. Quietly she repeated the nickname only her parents had ever called her.

"Opal, keep practicing that," Apollo cleared his throat, "I want to hear it finished."

"Yeah, sure," she said, a warm smile returning to her face and got to her feet, meeting Herry at the door she asked, "What you think?"

"That's what an A sounds like," he said, flashing a grin.

She smiled and gave a light laugh, walking with him out into the student parking lot. There she realized that in her excitement she forgot she had a bus to catch. Snapping her fingers she voiced her frustration, "Damn it."

"What?" he sent her a questioning look with slight concern.

"I missed the bus," she said, hunching her shoulders as she huffed out a sigh, "Can I borrow your phone?"

"I can give you a ride."

"No, I can't ask you for a ride, I live way out of town," she said and shook her head.

"You didn't ask," he said with a smirk, "I offered."

She bit her lip and looked up to him with consideration. She reached up a hand to pull on the curls at the back of her neck and nodded, "You're sure, you're not supposed to be somewhere right now?"

"Yes I'm sure," he said and waved her down the concert stairs. Taking them more slowly than he usually did, the back of his thigh burst with pain at each step. It was such an infuriating injury. Sprained muscles happened quite frequently when Cronus suddenly decided to let loose a raging monster on the city, because he simply didn't have the time to ensure he was limber enough. In his truck he pushed his foot up against the firewall to stretch out his aching leg. All well, it would probably be fine by the morning.

* * *

Theresa was reading when a knock sounded on her door. She marked her page with her finger and looked up from where she lounged on her bed to call them in. When Jay cracked the door open she sent over a glare. He cleared his throat and pulled at the collar of his shirt as he stepped inside.

"Theresa," he said, turning to look down at his feet.

"Yes?" she prompted, pushing herself up to sit on the edge of her bed. Her lips were pressed together in a tight line, her brows knitted and eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry about the other day in the park," he glanced up to her through his eyelashes and revealed the white rose he had hidden behind his back.

"Oh," forgetting she was marking a page she set her book down on the mattress to rush over to him. With gentle fingers she lifted the flower from his hand and sent him a smile.

"I was thinking maybe we could go for another walk, no talk about Cronus this time, I promise," he held out his hand, "What do you say?"

"Sure," she set the flower down on her nightstand and happily clasped his hand.

"Good," he nodded and pulled her out of her room and down the stairs. Out on the sidewalk Theresa motioned to take her hand back, but Jay held fast, sending her over a smile as he tugged her closer. Swooning she let out a small sigh and rested her head against his shoulder as they strolled down the street hand in hand.

It felt good to have a moment like this; just a simple and normal walk as a couple. She smiled at the people they passed on the street. They would see her and Jay as any other regular couple, for a moment she clung to that thought. She drank in a deep breath of fresh air, bringing with it the subtle hints of Jay's cologne, the one she had got him for his birthday. The sun had been peaking in and out from behind clouds all day long, and it seemed like it picked the perfect time to reappear to shine down on her face.

They rounded into the park, the floating of birdsongs becoming more frequent in the brushing of the tree branches in the wind. Theresa let Jay lead her down the various paved paths in the park. She had long lost her desire to pay attention to where they were going, content just to have the warmth of his body next to hers. The feel of his fingers entwined with her own, her soft skin against his rough.

"Here we are," he came to a stop and she blinked her eyes into focus, lifting her head from his shoulder in slight disorientation.

"What?" she turned to ask him.

He sent her a warm smile and gestured to a red blanked laid down on the fresh grass, in the shade of a massive oak with twisting branches reaching off of the knarred trunk. A basket was set on it, bur the top was closed so she couldn't see what was inside.

"This is for me?" she said with a gasp, looking to him with her green eyes wide.

"For us," he reached for her other hand and tugged her over.

"Jay, I don't know what to say," she shook her head in wonder as she sat with him, she giggled and leaned over to place a soft kiss on his lips, "Thank you."

"Yeah, well, it's been ages since we worried about…" he blushed slightly and cleared his throat, "About us." She gave a content smile and let him take back one of his hands to flip open the basket.

"Champagne?" Theresa taunted, "Jay, rebel."

"It's not, it's just sparking juice," he sent her a weak smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"Should have known, goodie-two-shoes," she leaned forward to kiss his cheek, "This is really sweet Jay."

"I'm glad you think so," he poured two glasses and handed one over, clinking his wine glass against hers in the process. She giggled and took a sip as she watched him. He could be so infuriating sometimes, and then he went and did something like this. Something that would make her heart melt and remind her why she was in love with him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Herry tossed his truck into park when he pulled up to the curb in front of Opal's house so he could stretch out his leg. Reaching a hand under his thigh to kneed the aching muscles there.

"Umm, there's a beach right behind my house, a swim might make you feel better," Opal said from the passenger seat, her heart hammering so loud in her ears as she asked she was surprised Herry couldn't hear it too.

"Mmm," he hummed with genuine interest. Just the thought of the cool ocean water over his stiff muscles made him feel better. He sent over an inquiring look and asked, "For real?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "You're way taller than my dad, but I'm sure you could fit into a pair of his shorts."

"I have a pair of gym shorts in my bag, I can just where those," he turned the engine off and unfastened his seatbelt, "but thanks anyways." She nodded and opened the passenger door to hop out. He grabbed his duffle and followed her up the walkway to the front door. She let herself in and tossed her bag to the side of the shoe rack. She looked over her shoulder as she pointed to an open bathroom door and Herry nodded.

"There's towels in the cabinet, grab two?" she asked as he flicked on the light.

"Sure," he replied and swung the door shut behind him. Opal ran up the stairs to her room to toss on her own bathing suit. Coming downstairs she was not surprised to find Herry down on his knees fluffing Rye's fur as he waited for her, but she was mortified to find him talking with her father.

"Chickadee," John smiled as she took a folded towel from the ground beside Herry to wrap around herself, "Since when did you start bringing home boys?"

"Dad," she said, cheeks instantly flashing red, "He's just a friend from school."

"Well of course you're going to tell me that," he said with a smirk painted across his face.

"Dad," she glared at him and bolted for the back door, desperate to escape. Rye bounced at her heel, whining as she twitched her nose in the fresh air towards the ocean.

"I like your dad," Herry said with a smirk as he stepped out onto the porch, closing the glass door behind him. He reached out a hand towards the dog and called for her attention. She spared him a quick ram of her head into his palm and then turned back towards the ocean, giving Opal anxious glances between her whines.

"What did my father say to you?" she turned to ask him as if she were addressing a family death.

He gave a deep laugh and shook his head, "Nothing other than hey I'm John. I know what you're thinking about doing with my daughter. Want to see the shotgun in my shed?"

She studied him through narrow eyes for a moment and slowly concluded, "All he has in his shed is fishing equipment. You're lying."

"Yes I am," he laughed again and looked across the lawn, "Is there a climb? You never said there was a climb."

"Aw muffin," she taunted and started off for the rocks, Rye took that as her cue to bound down to the cove and straight into the water. Herry was caught off guard for a second, she never joked with him like that. In quiet shock he watched her begin her carful decent down the rocks, watching her feet as she placed her tiptoes down like a ballerina, one arm out to help her balance and the other clutching her towel. He smiled to himself when he started off after her. Right there, he knew he'd done it, broken through her front.

* * *

"We need to talk about what happened last night," Atlanta stated, slamming open Archie's door. He startled and quickly covered the notebook he was writing in, leaning his arm across it to prop his chin up in his palm.

"Uh, sure Atlanta," he said and subtly tried to flip his book closed.

She stormed over to him, balled his shirt in her fists and dragged him to his feet, "You can't just try to kiss me like that."

"What?" he scrunched up his face in confusion and she sneered up at him.

"You can't just do that and then act like we're nothing more than friends," she repeated.

"What? Everyone knows we're more than friends," he said.

She shoved him away and he staggered back, tangling his feet up in his computer chair. He made a desperate attempt to catch his balance, instead he went flailing to the ground like a fish with arms windmilling.

"Why did you have to do that?" she demanded.

"Do what? Kiss you," he untangled himself from the tipped chair and stood, straightening out his sweater.

"No, you didn't kiss me," she screamed, "Why did you have to go and make things complicated?"

"Maybe I want things to be complicated," he offered gently, "Atlanta maybe I want you to be my girl –"

"Don't say it," she ordered, waving a fist in his face.

"I thought you just said you wanted me to act like we were more than friends," he said.

"No, that's not what I meant," she stomped her foot into the ground, "You can't do that anymore, if we're going to be friends you can't do that at all."

"Atlanta why can't we be more than friends?" he asked, holding out his hands palm up.

"Because we just can't," she spun on her heel and stormed out the door, slamming it behind her. Archie let out a defeated sigh, dropping his shoulders. Numbly he reached down for his chair and sat back down at his desk. Atlanta, why couldn't she just realize she liked him just as much as he liked her. She was so confusing sometimes. He sighed as he read over his chicken scratch in his notebook, if she had caught a glance of that poem, or any poem in the book, she might have actually thrown one of those fists clenched down at her sides. Yeah, this little book of literary Atlanta admiration would stay his secret for quite some more time.

* * *

It was amazing what a little swim could do. Laying back on his towel spread over the soft sand the muscles in the back of Herry's right thigh were in ecstasy. Opal sat beside him on her own towel looking out over the ocean, her bare back to him. He watched her toss a stick into the gentle waves for Rye to chase, her curls weighed down by water jumping with her motion.

The black bear of a dog stormed into the Pacific, sending up a spray of water and a commotion of cheerful barks. She retrieved the stick and pranced over to Herry, dropping beside him to begin gnawing on the wood, her fur a fast mess of sticky sand. He motioned to grab the stick but she turned her head away, pulling it out of his reach, sparing no moment in her prying at the fibers of the wood.

"She's kind of lazy sometimes," Opal said shifting to face him now, wrapping her hands around her raised knees, "She never plays fetch for more than one or two throws."

"I guess that's a Newfie thing isn't it?" he said, reaching over a hand to brush the wet fur on her back between his fingers, "Big dogs are known for being lazy aren't they, like Saint Bernards and shit like that."

"If you were a dog I think you'd be a Saint Bernard."

"Are you calling me lazy?" he taunted with a grin, shifting his gaze over to her from Rye.

"No," she said with a small shake of her head, "you're big, but you couldn't be a Rottweiler because they aren't that cute."

"Oh, so, now you're calling me cute," his smile grew.

Her face flushed red, and her eyes widened. Quickly she covered her cheeks with her hands, aware she was blushing, "No, no, you're cute like a puppy."

"Not exactly the way I want girls to look at me, but I guess it's better than nothing," he continued to torment her.

"Ughh" she dropped her head to her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs.

Herry tried to keep in his laugh, he managed for a moment before it came snorting out, "It's okay Opal, I'm just teasing."

She poked her head up to look at him and his closed mouth smile was fast to flash teeth. She bit the corner of her lip, keeping her thoughts to herself, his teasing sounded a lot like flirting.

"Hey, why are you out here if your dad's from Nova Scotia?" he asked, changing the subject for her benefit she was sure.

She straightened her back and relaxed her arms as she sent him a smirk, "So that's what my dad was talking to you about."

"He was telling me about their catch today and said he always got better out east," he said, "I have never met someone who likes fishing so much."

"Yeah, I know," she shifted to look down at him and answered his question, "My mom's parents were out here, but I never met my grandma and my grandpa passed the year after we moved. My dad liked it too much to move back though, plus he had just become captain of his fishing boat. Hey, you're from Saskatchewan right, what's it like there? I've only ever passed through."

"Flat," he shrugged, "the bugs are horrible in the spring. At times they're so thick you breathe them in. That is one thing I definitely do not miss about the prairies, I can understand where your dad is coming from, I don't think I will ever leave BC. It still blows my mind that people just live on the beach. There are only dirty ponds to swim in back home."

"I've always lived right beside water," she said, "What do you do out there?"

"I worked on the farm mostly, other than that, there is nothing to do," he said.

"What about your farm, tell me about that."

"Well, my mom managed it, and I did most of the labor with my dad."

"Oh yeah, I figured something like that just from looking at you Hercules," she didn't notice him stiffen with the use of the name, "I mean, what's it liked being raised on a farm?"

"Umm, I don't know, I've never known anything different really, but I think it definitely made me more… slow? I mean, everyone in the city just always seems like they're in a hurry, all the time," he narrowed his eyes towards her, "Does that make any since at all?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "my dad always complained about that when we lived in Victoria, we were there for years for my mom and her recording company."

He smiled, glad she was able to understand what he was trying to say, and pushed himself to his feet. Offering down a hand he said, "I should go, but thanks for inviting me over, the water definitely helped."

"Sure," hesitantly she placed her hand in his, not surprised to find rough calluses there. She liked the feeling on her smooth skin, the only calluses she had were on the fingertips of her left hand, from her string instruments. This sensation of her hand nestled in his would stick in her mind long into the night. He dropped her hand once she was on her feet and bent down for the towel, shaking it out as he headed for the path in the rocks.

To ensure she could see him to the door Opal waited for Herry to change back into his regular clothes before she got into her own. As they were exchanging farewells Percival came rumbling into the driveway on his motorcycle. Herry gave it an impressed whistle and padded down from the doorway for a closer look.

"BMW," Herry said as he held out his hand to the man.

"Yeah, BMW cruiser, my steed, I call her Pegasus," he took off his helmet, gray hair a blown mess. He turned with an outstretched hand and a smile, but it fell the instant they made eye contact, those eyes were too familiar to be coincidence.

"I'm Herry, a friend of Opal's," he didn't catch onto the man's hesitation, scooping up his hand to shake.

"Percival," he muttered and weekly shook the teen's hand back. Percival retreated his hand and looked over to Opal, "Opal what are you doing out here in that, go put some clothes on."

"Sure," she nodded in surprise, in the time the man had been staying with them he had never tried to parent her before. Shock was mostly what drove her inside. Percival looked back to Herry with a harsh snap, they were about the same in height, but the elderly man was definitely slimmer. Herry imagined he would have matched Jay for his size back in his prime. With a casual pull on the collar of his white shirt a gold pendent around his neck became visible. It would mean nothing to anyone else, but Herry gasped and staggered back a step.

"I knew it," Percival shot after him, "You have his eyes, Hercules, that's who you're related to isn't it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he stammered and backed away towards his truck.

"What is going on with the gods?" the man followed him.

"What? Nothing's going on," he scoffed and laughed nervously. Percival glared at him for a moment. In a sudden instant there was a flash of metal and Herry found a knife slicing through the air towards his chest. It was reflex to grab the man's wrist, bend his hand back, and twist his arm around to lock behind his back. The knife clattered to the pavement and Percival's shoulders shuddered in controlled laughter. Dammit, he had just been set up. Quickly he dropped the man's arm and stepped away.

"Did Ares teach you that?" he said turning to face him again as he rotated his shoulder in its socket, "I'm going to feel that in the morning."

"I still don't know what you're talking about and I have to go," he bolted for his truck and tore off down the road. What the hell just happened?


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Herry burst through the front door and bolted for the kitchen when he heard laughter. There he found Theresa, Neil and Odie, but no Jay. He turned to head back to his initial trajectory for the stairs, but was stopped by his friends in the kitchen.

"Herry, where have you been?" Odie asked in good nature, "Dude, I've been waiting for like an hour for you to get home."

"Ah, I went to the beach," he said simply, coming back to look through the doorway, "Listen I need to –"

"What, by yourself?" Neil cut him off to ask in slight confusion.

"No, my partner for an English project, I gave her a ride home and she invited me over," he responded with a polite evenness in his voice, "but I really need to –"

"A girl?" Theresa exclaimed pushing out from her chair so fast it clanged back on the floor tiles, "Do I know her, is she cute?"

"Ah, I really need to find Jay," Herry stated.

"You can find him later," she waved a hand off through the air, "Tell me about this 'project partner.'"

"Theresa we're just working on an English project together," he shrugged in irritation as he answered her, "Can I go get Jay now?"

"No," she tugged him over to the table and picked up her chair from the floor, offering it to him, but he didn't take it, "Is she nice, is she cute? Do you like her?"

"Sure I like her, she's nice," he said.

Theresa groaned and specified, "Do you like her, like her?"

He opened his mouth to deny, but hesitated for a moment as a dopey smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "Yeah? Actually yeah, pretty sure."

"Oh my gods," she slapped her hands on her cheeks, "what's her name?"

"Opal," he said.

"Doesn't ring any bells," she shook her head.

"Whoa, wait, is that the Orpheus descendent?" Odie piped.

"Yeah," Herry replied sheepishly, looking away when he sent him an unimpressed look.

"Herry," he said warningly.

"I know, I know," he held out his hands, "Alright, that's why this is not going further than project partners."

"Neil you need to go get last year's yearbook," Theresa pointed to the blond and he happily obliged.

"Come on guys," Herry held out his hands in exasperation, "Did you not hear what I just told Odie?"

"Doesn't mean we can't look her up in the yearbook," Theresa concluded smugly.

"Right," he rolled his eyes and backed away for the door again, "I need to go talk to Jay."

"Herry," Theresa whined and latched onto his wrist like a bloodsucking leach. She pulled him back over and ordered him to sit in her vacant chair. He obliged in irritation. She bombarded him with questions that he answered in his overwhelmed state, trying every couple of minutes to escape to find Jay. He let out a sigh of relief when their leader came down the stairs to send a curios look into the kitchen.

"What is all the squealing about?" he asked. Herry and Odie looked to Theresa who just smiled innocently over at Jay.

"Herry has a girlfriend," she told him simply.

"Theresa," he jerked in surprise and wacked his knee off one of the table legs, "Dammit ouch, I do not have a girlfriend."

"But you want to make her your girlfriend," she told him tauntingly.

"Pretty sure I've said like seven times already that I don't," he shot back and then looked over to Jay, "Man, I need to talk to you."

"What's up?" he decided to come further into the kitchen then, walking over to the counter to toss on the kettle and fish out a bag of tea from the cabinet.

"Well I met this lovely gentleman that pulled a knife on me today," he stated casually, Jay's spoon clattered into his empty mug and he shot over a wide eyed face. Herry reached into his pocket and pulled out his pendent, letting the neck chain dangle off his finger he said, "He had one of these."

"What?" tea preparation forgotten Jay rushed over to pull out a chair at the kitchen table. The whole table fell silent as they expectantly looked to Herry. Quickly he told them the story, and once he was finished Jay leaned back in his chair to yell for Athena. The goddess padded up the stairs and leaned against the frame of the kitchen doorway, sending Jay a raised eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Herry met someone named Percival today," Jay said simply.

Odie piped up to add, "He has a bike he named Pegasus. Who was it again that owned Pegasus, Precious wasn't it?"

Athena gasped and straightened, sending a shocked look back at four grave ones, "I guess I have some explaining to do."

"Oh, you guess," Odie muttered.

"There's been a great number of groups like yours, heroes," she said, "The last one was a group of three, probably about fifty years ago, descendents of Precious, Bellerophon and Orpheus. Bill and Percival are still alive, Oriole passed when she was only twenty-seven in an accident with a minotaur. She left behind a tree year old at the time, I believe."

"Have you always used the same pendent keys?" Jay asked sternly.

"Yes," the goddess nodded.

"Athena," he exclaimed, leaning back in his chair and hunching his shoulders, "How many are out there? How many that Cronus could get his hands on?"

She puckered her lips and looked away, "I'll speak to Hera on the matter, Jay you have a valid concern."

"Please do," he sighed and pushed out of his chair to reset the kettle.

"Found it!" came a pitched scream from the top of the stairs, moments later Neil came running into the kitchen with an open yearbook. He plunked it down in front of Theresa with a finger on a girl playing a violin in the school's courtyard.

"She really needs to do something with her hair," he mulled out loud, oblivious to the tension that had settled in the room during his absence.

Looking over his shoulder, Athena gasped and said, "She looks just like Oriole, that must be her granddaughter."

"And right there is why I cannot date her," Herry tugged the book away and shut it, "Cool, so can we drop it now?"

"She is kind of cute though," Jay piped in, receiving a glare from the redhead across the room, "Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm just saying, I've only met her briefly, but I think she would be a nice match for you Herry."

"Mmm," he smiled and nodded in absentminded agreement, "She is pretty damned hot in a bikini."

"That's what I like to hear my friend," he laughed and scooted back to the table with a mug of tea, he set it down on the tabletop and smacked his palm down on his friend's shoulder.

Odie flipping the book open again to get a closer look, after a second of mulling over the image he said, "Her boobs are kinda small."

"But her ass makes up for it," Herry replied, Odie laughed and nodded.

"Pigs," Theresa pushed up from her chair to slam her hands down on the table. She sent Jay a scowl and turned to storm out of the room.

"Ooo, who's in trouble now?" Neil taunted with a crooked smile. Jay sent the model a glare and then rose out of his chair to pursue Theresa, calling her name. Neil cracked an imaginary whip and the other two boys at the table crumbled into laughter.

* * *

The colours shifting on the white surface of the motorcycle were stunning in the setting sun. It zoomed through traffic, darting in and out of the continuous flow of verticals towards the high school. Percival puttered into the parked in the back. Knocking down the kickstand he hopped off and set his helmet on the seat. His cowboy boots tapped across the pavement to a pair of double doors to the school. He let himself into the abandoned after hour halls, he navigated them with old memory to the back hallway. He stopped in front of the old janitor's closet and from his pocket pulled a golden pendent, a P engraved on the back. He placed it into the panel and the door jarred open. He stepped inside and pulled the string to open the portal.

Walking through the swirls and into the gods' domain he smirked, it hadn't changed a bit. He navigated his way through the halls on quick feet to Hera's solarium and didn't give the courtesy of knocking. The Queen of the Gods looked over with an irritated glare, but it dropped to shock in an instant.

"Hera," he said in a harsh demand, "What is going on?"

"Percival," she gave him a small smile, "how have you been?"

"What's going on Hera," he repeated firmly, "I met one of your heroes, Herry."

"Sorry?" she said and raised a cool eyebrow.

"I have to give you kudos, he denied it to a fault," he said, "Now tell me, what is going on?"

"Cronus has escaped Tartarus," she sighed and dropped her head.

"Hera, why didn't you contact me?" he threw up his arms, "I can help."

"You've already done your time," she said.

"Hera," he said, tossing a finger down to point at the ground as he stepped one foot forward, "I am helping."

"Have you seen Bill recently?" she asked, ignoring his statement.

"Not in years, last I heard he moved into a home with his wife," he said.

"Where's your wife?" Hera asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Hera, you know plenty well, I never married, don't do this to me," he tossed over a warning glare.

"You need to let this place go," she said.

"It's been forty-seven years, I can't let this place go," he said, a sneer contorting his face, "I never will, I am helping."

Hera sighed and leaned her head down, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and fingers. She looked at this man now, nomadic, touring the continent on a mission that should have ended long ago. She knew the troublesome monsters left over from a time far forgotten were slowly being snuffed of her radar by him. At first his activity was slow, but then his sweetheart married another man. Where Percival embraced his past, Oriole tried to forget it the second she was out. When she passed his activities hit their spike, took a drop as he helped raise her daughter and then had been steady in the last twenty years.

She looked at this man now and was afraid that it would be Jay standing in front of her fifty years down the road like this. They were so similar, the leaders of their groups, the ones that pushed themselves the hardest, could never call a job done. She saw what could become and prayed Jay was stronger, that he could return to a normal life once this was over.

"I know I can't stop you," she said as she looked up with sunken eyes, mind heavy. He gave a solid nod and turned to leave. He still held himself the same, tall and proud, a stride just like Jay's.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

It was wonderful day out on the water. The fall had been good to them so far this year, holding off on the rains. Although John appreciated working out in the sun, it did mean the harvests were down. The rain brought in the fish. They had a fairly good haul to start off the day, John was satisfied with today's work already from just looking at the numbers of fish that flooded the deck as he and his crew pulled in the nets.

A swell rose up, rocking the boat to the side and all the flopping, slippery fish slid with the movement of the water. John looked over his shoulder to study the water, head held high with brows drawn together, eyes squinting out the sun. He hummed as he scanned the surface of the ocean, it had been the first swell they had all day. Another swell surged up and this time he stumbled to keep his balance, doing his best to avoid the fish under his feet.

"Hansen, how we doing over there?" he said as he looked over to one of the crew members on his boat, young and fit, muscles glistening under a slick of sweat.

"Good Captain, let's bring this in as fast as we can," he said, hand over handing the net in a steady pace, "I don't like how the ocean is shiftin' right now."

"No, neither do I," he said as he continued to match the young man's pace. John continued to watch the water as he worked. There was just something off; he had spent more time on a boat than off, he knew the ocean and how she moved. Another swell swarmed up from the depths of the blue, rising a good ten feet into the air. The boat rocked and lurched as the moving water passed under them, almost instantly after another came, even higher.

John watched the water come towards them, bracing himself for the movement to wave through his boat. There was a flash of shimmering blue just under the surface. He narrowed his eyes as the figure zoomed through the water. There was a flick of something white, like bone, and a splash was flicked into his face just as the swell passed under them. He looked over to Hansen, but the boy was focusing on the net he was hauling in.

Sucking at his teeth John raised his head to continue watching the water. The swells were coming at regular swirling intervals. Every now and again he would catch the shimmer of blue, but could only make out silhouettes. Water was flowing over the deck, making footing more slippery than it already was. They almost had the net all the way in. A horrid snap reverberated through the hull of the ship, making it shudder with a chorus of protesting creaks. All of John's crew froze at the sensation, looking to the ocean for an answer. Splintering force tore up through the center of the boat, boards snapping like twigs. Everyone was tossed to their knees. A shimmer of blue snapped up into the sky like lightning, leaving a wound in the ship like a bullet in flesh, inky blue seeped up like blood.

"The row boat," John screamed and dropped the net. It unraveled back into the ocean, ropes ripping off the deck. The skies turned from clear blue to gray black in an instant. Dark clouds billowing into formation, churning and twisting as they loosed a wave of torrential rain. Clothing was drenched through in seconds, a continuous river pushed hair into eyes as it coursed down skin.

The rain came down in a wall, John could hardly see the next wave coming. His team rowed, muscles screaming in exertion with each thrust. Water coursed over the boat, waves pushing and pulling it as if it were little more than a bathtub duck. The waves, they must have been thirty feet tall, treating to capsize the small vesicle with every white cap. John kept yelling orders to his crew, creating an organized rhythm of pulls and strokes. There had to be an edge of this storm to reach.

* * *

"Not now, not now, not now," Herry muttered to himself, reaching into his pocket for his PMR to cut the call off.

"Herry," Rice said from where he sat at the side of the room, cutting Opal off from the piece she was currently performing on the lyre, "Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem," he said, feeling the heat blossoming on his face.

"Important phone call?" he prompted.

"No," he shook his head, his mind screaming '_dick_.' He cursed lightly when his phone started buzzing again.

"Why don't you answer that?"

Any other day he would politely refuse, but now he needed an excuse to get out of this room. He swallowed hard as his heart began to pound in his ears. What would his Granny think about what he was about to do? He pushed the image of her disapproving face away and looked to Rice as he said, "I'm sorry sir, I'm not answering my phone, because that would be rude and inconsiderate to my partner that was trying to concentrate before she was interrupted over something that really could have waited to be addressed." He shrugged with a mocking smile, raising an eyebrow in challenge. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his PMR to flick open and turn off. He held it up to show the black screen and dropped it back into his pants. There was a suck of air as every person in the room turned to look at the teacher, who was red faced and fuming.

"Opal go sit down," he told the girl and numbly she shuffled back to her seat, "And you, the office."

"Fine," Herry said simply, turning on his heel to calmly leave the room. In the hallway he flicked his phone back on and picked up a quick jog down the hall as he punched in Jay's number.

"What the hell man?" his voice came over the phone, "Why didn't you answer?"

"In the middle of a presentation Jay, thank you very much," he skid to a stop outside the office doors and sped up the conversation, "What's going on?"

"I need you down at the marina."

"Yeah, okay, I just need to take care of something first," he said and snapped his PMR shut. He took in a deep breath and pulled open one of the double doors.

"Herry?" Hera stepped out from her office when she saw him enter, "Was that intercom from Rice about you?"

"Yeah," he said with an innocent smile, shrugging as he held out his hands.

She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose as she said, "I'll talk to you about this later, but now you need to go."

"Thanks," he said and bolted for his truck.

* * *

The captain of the boat was holding out well, confirming he was fine every time Jay asked. He seemed to be much more collected then the rest of the men in his crew. They were all shivering under their blankets, teeth chattering. Theresa was talking to each one individually about their experience out on the water in the storm. Jay stood closely to listen in as he ensured no one slipped into the grip of shock.

"John," Theresa said, crouched in front of him, "Are you sure that's all you saw, just waves and storm clouds?"

He was hesitant to answer, but eventually nodded his head. Theresa gave a slight frown and reached out a hand to place on his shoulder, subtly pushing her thumb into the bare skin on his neck. She bit her lip and closed her eyes as the images of the blue, shimmering silhouettes burst into her mind. Jay pulled her away and stared into her eyes as she opened them, waiting in expectation.

"He saw, but I've made him forget," she whispered as she brushed past Jay to move to the next man, and the next. Jay stepped away when he heard the rumble of a car engine. He knew it was Herry's truck, the thing sounded like it had a baby dragon under the hood.

"Was it that storm again," he asked as he hopped out of his truck.

"Yeah, think you could go out with the rest of the guys to take a look around while Theresa and I continue to talk to the witnesses?"

"Sure, no problem," he nodded and looked for Jay's sailboat, already being prepped by the rest of their team. They walked back to the docks together. The hand that had been gripping Jay's stomach for weeks tightened as he watched Theresa question these men. He was starting to worry this would overwhelm them. They couldn't deal with Cronus and all these creatures that were drawn to this area. Time was ticking to the anniversary of this whole mess with The God of Time.

Speaking with the fishermen and sailing around the GPS located occurrence of the storm for half an hour yielded no results. Jay radioed them back when all the witnesses were taken off to their homes. Jay learned nothing he didn't already know. His foot tapped in rapid succession the entire drive back to school, he needed to come up with a foolproof plan to end all of this now and he needed to be quick about it.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Herry's day had been long and infuriating. He was tired and grumpy and just wanted to go home, get this gods forsaken day over with so he could go eat something. He might not have been so irritable if he had actually got to have his lunch on his lunchtime detention. Opal had a habit of sneaking up on him, the tiny little mouse never made a sound with her footsteps. With his head muddled in irritation his mind wasn't were it should have been. He nearly whacked his head off the ceiling when he felt the tug on his sleeve.

"Umm," Opal was fast to snatch her hand back. She opened her mouth to apologize for startling him, but instead shook it off and reached into her bag for a piece of paper, crumpling it as she pulled it from her book, "Thought you might want to see this."

"What is it?" he asked as he plucked it from her fingers. She didn't have to answer, he sighed out a curse and handed the evaluation form back, the D was definitely on him, "I'm sorry."

"No worries," she said, "It was kind of funny. I didn't know you had it in you."

"Yeah, I'm not usually like that," he said.

"Yeah, I know, but he was being an ass," she said, offering him a cheery smile that somehow made him forget how grumpy he had been a moment before.

"I know right?" he said and breathed out a laugh, "You're sure you're not mad about the mark?"

"Doesn't really matter," she said as she shrugged, she reached into her locker for the lyre and handed it back to him, "Thank you so much for getting it for me, I really appreciate you giving me the chance to play one."

"Yeah, no problem," he said as he tucked it into his duffle. He smirked at how formal she became. Their mark didn't even seem to register on her, playing interesting instruments, that was really were her priorities lie. He gave her a quick goodbye before he turned to head off down the hallway, which she returned in good nature. His conscious started to prick at him as he strolled away. He stopped in the middle of the hall, gnawing on his lip for a moment before he turned back and called her name.

"Mmm?" she looked over, her bag propped up on her knee, resting against the edge of her locker.

"Try to have a good night," he said, and scoffed as he looked to the ceiling. That sounded awesome.

"Sure," she said and nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes in his direction, "I'll try."

"See you tomorrow," he sighed, mentally kicking himself. He should have just kept his mouth shut and kept walking.

* * *

Opal hesitated in the threshold of the front door, her breath catching in her lungs. She could hear the argument waging in the kitchen, it was not a very accustomed noise to be found in her home. As she listened she slipped off her sandals, careful to keep them from scraping on the wooden floorboards, and nudged them under the shoe rack beside the door. On tiptoes she slunk over to the kitchen, keeping the bottom of her jeans from brushing the floor. Using the wall dividing the room form the landing to conceal herself she listened. It wasn't long until she had gathered what the issue was and she darted into the kitchen to interrupt.

"What? You almost drowned?" she said, tears beginning their threatening glisten.

"Chickadee," John turned to look at her, startled by her sudden appearance, "No, I didn't come anywhere close to drowning, I'm fine."

"John, take a leave," Ophelia said, pulling his attention back to their discussion.

"I can't, I'm the captain, Dove those men depend on me," he was collected, but the irritation was starting to rub trough on his voice.

"Dad," Opal said, rushing over to him, latching her arms around his waist like a toddler, "I love you."

"I love you too," he said, a smile placing itself on his face without him noticing. He hugged her back and patted her curls. With his hands on her shoulders he pulled her away, still keeping a firm grip on her upper arms he said, "I'm fine, it was just a little storm. Storms come up on the water all the time."

She nodded, looking up to him with blue eyes wide and watery.

"Good," he smacked her arms with his hands and looked back to his wife, "What do you say we start some dinner."

"I still don't feel good about this," Ophelia shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Oh," he melted, a broad smile plastering itself across his scruffy face. He took a step over to his wife to gather her up in his arms, cradling her close to his chest he said, "I'm not going anywhere for a long time." She nodded, her temple rubbing against his shoulder. Gently he tugged her back, cupping her face in both of his hands and set a soft kiss on her lips. She gripped his wrists tight as she returned it. He sent her a small smile when he pulled back, flicking away the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs.

"I love you John," she said on a shallow whisper.

"You too," he said and straightened, turning to the fridge he plucked out the thawed chicken he had set out the night before. Ophelia sucked in a deep breath and rubbed her eyes on the cuffs of her sleeves before she came over to help; taking up the knife her husband passed her.

Opal took in a slow and even breath as she shook out her hands by her side, clearing her throat she asked, "Vegetables?"

"On the table Chickadee," John looked over his shoulder and pointed with his knife to the green onions freshly pulled from the garden. She nodded and scooped up the bundle to wash in the sink, rinsing off the rich soil that was still clinging to their roots.

A door rattling slam pulled a squeak from Opal's lungs, she dropped the onions involuntarily under the stream of water from the tap. Looking over to the kitchen door she found Percival standing firmly in the threshold, fists clenched at his sides, eyebrows knitted together as he picked at his teeth with the tip of his tongue.

"John," he said, voice propelled with a deep bellow.

The man put his knife on the wooden cutting board and turned to look over in inquiry.

"What happened?"

"My boat just got stuck in a storm, it wasn't as big of a deal as everyone is making it out to be," he said.

"Did you see anything?" Percival said, watching him through sharp eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked slowly, nudging his daughter away from the sink to wash his hands thoroughly, removing his wedding band to pinch between his teeth as he did so.

"Anything out of the ordinary?" he said, "I saw your boat John, that wasn't lightning, whatever made that hole came from underneath."

"I don't know what I saw, I can't seem to remember," he shrugged and pouted out his bottom lip, "The crew seems to think its lightning."

"But you don't," the older man stated.

"I don't know what else it would be," he looked back to the chicken chopped into little cubes on the wooden board and scooped it up to dump into a pan sizzling with orange juice and soya sauce. Percival took in a deep breath, his formidable stance in the doorway shifting away like a landslide, rubbing at his lips with his fingers he padded over to the kitchen table to take a seat. Leaning back against the wall he kicked out his booted feet to cross at the ankle. He sucked at his cheeks, further deepening the hollows there. Draped in the chair he looked like a rattlesnake waiting to strike. The moment he got John away from his family he would grill him further.

* * *

Odie looked like a hunchback sitting at the kitchen table, leaning over a silver box blinking with lights and swirling with probes, a magnifying glass hooked onto the rim of his glasses. With screwdriver poised in hand he rotated his wrist like a wizard, creating magic through his meticulous tweaking. It was far from an uncommon scene to walk in on at the brownstone, but nonetheless Jay pulled out a chair beside him to inquire on the young genius' project.

"Jay," Odie said, jerking his hand back from the contraption, turning to face his friend a wide smile flashed his bright teeth, "This is the answer to all of our problems."

Jay sent him an inquiring look, reaching out to flick the magnifying glass away from the lens of Odie's glasses. He preferred to converse with his friend when both eyes appeared the same size.

"This is how we're going to beat Cronus," he smirked, "I've been testing it out with Hermes. See you just flip this switch to activate it and then any portal within a certain radius will go straight to Cronus' cell in Tartarus."

"Ha," Jay leaned back to chuckle, "so when Cronus goes to run away like he always does he'll transport himself right back to his old cell."

"Yep," Odie said with a smug grin, "I know, I'm a genius, you don't need to tell me."

"When can we use it?"

"Well, that certain radius, I can't get a fix on it," Odie said, "it keeps fluctuating, so I just need that to stabilize and it will be good to go."

"So when will it be finished?"

"I'm hoping I can work out the calculations and input them within the next week," he said, "but pretty cool eh?"

"Yeah, it is," Jay said, tossing out his hands as he laughed, "Oh, I have so much planning to do now." He jolted up from his chair and ran up the stairs to his cave, footsteps falling heavy on the floorboards as he took the steps two at a time.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Opal pushed the hanging clothes in her parent's closet aside, dropping down on her shoulder she peered into the dim closure. Her father had said the box was here, but she couldn't make out much with such poor lighting. Sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth she reached her hand in to feel around, blind of any other sense. Her fingertips caught the edge of a box and she worked it into her palm with slow manipulating fingers. Freeing it from the depths of the wardrobe she rose to her feet, clutching the box in firm hands, nervous of breaking the antique with a drop. She pushed away the jewelry littering the top of her mother's dresser to set it down. She flicked open the old, tarnished latch and turned over the lid, the hinges screeching in protest.

Tucked in the corner of the velvet lined box was a gold pendent. Opal lifted it up by the chain, letting it hang off of her fingers. It was a circle with an odd dial on the front, and the back had an engraved O. There was something about it that seemed familiar, but she was sure she had never seen it before. She let out a defeated hum and placed her mother's heirloom back inside. With gentle accuracy she nestled the old book full of music inside the box and returned it to its dingy home in the closet.

It wasn't until the next morning that she thought about the pendent again. She was organizing her books at the bottom of her locker in a sleepy daze when someone came up behind her and shoved her in the shoulder. Sucking in a deep breath and clutching a hand to her heart she looked up. She recognized the redhead, she knew she was one of Herry's friends, but she didn't know her name. With hands clasped behind her back the woman sent down a bright smile. Opal got to her feet slowly, sending the girl a curious gaze.

"Hi I'm Theresa, and this is Neil," she stuck out her hand for Opal to hesitantly shake, "We're friends with Herry."

"Yeah, I know," she said, voice coming out on a quiet wisp. She glanced at the blonde, her hand still clasped in Theresa's, and he flashed her a perfect smile. Neil was the only name she had known before she met Herry, he was a model and had a following of fangirls at the school.

"He was talking about you the other day, I just wanted to introduce myself," Theresa said.

"Okay, cool," Opal nodded, flicking her locker closed as she swung her bag over her shoulder, "Nice to meet you." She was mortified to find them following her as she started off for her homeroom. With a nervous swipe she knocked her hair from behind her ear to shield her face.

"You know we were just talking and we got on this topic," Theresa said as she strolled along beside the shorter girl, waving her hands through the air as she spoke, "You wouldn't happen to like him would you?"

"What?" she froze dead in her tracks. Both Theresa and Neil had to back pedal a step as they passed her. The sudden pressure that appeared around Opal's chest made her breath come in shallow wisps. Staring wide eyed she tried to focus her mind, collect all the pieces that had suddenly been splattered all over the inside of her skull.

"Oh, she does," Neil said with a smirk, elbowing Theresa. It was hard to gather any other conclusion from the girl's reaction to the question.

"This is great," the redhead clapped her hands together as she did a little bounce.

"I never said that," Opal said, stammering it out, the words couldn't fall over one another fast enough.

"Didn't need to," she tapped her head with her finger and winked.

"Ah, Theresa, Neil, it's been… interesting meeting you, but I have to get to class," she tried to slip away, but Theresa caught her by the arm.

Leaning into her face the redhead said, "He can be a stubborn fool sometimes, but he's a great guy. You're going to need to be the one to ask him out."

"Uhh," she leaned away, shrugging her shoulders close to her neck. Theresa was watching her with critical eyes, waiting for a response.

"He likes you, he'll say yes," Neil leaned in to prompt.

"I don't know," she shook her head back and forth in jerky motions. As she was reaching out a hand to pry the girl's fingers off of her upper arm the gold chain around Theresa's neck slipped and the top edge of a pendent gleamed from under her shirt. She narrowed her eyes at it for a moment and then darted her eyes back to Theresa's face.

"Come on," she said, whining as she kicked the toes of one foot into the tiles, "Please, you got to do it."

"But it's the boy's job to ask the girl out," she said, voice still a mouse of a whisper.

"Ugh," Theresa let her arm go and stepped back to cross her arms over her chest in frustration, shifting her weight to one leg to bounce her foot with quick successive taps on the ground. Picking at her jeans Opal watched the girl, wondering if she could just slip away from the hovering awkwardness and take off down the hall.

Theresa sent an irritated gaze over to her and Opal jumped back a step, her breath catching in her lungs. Stepping in front of Theresa Neil said with a gentle co, "Honey, there are no rules that say the girl can't ask the guy out, it's the twenty first century, woman don't have to wait around for the man anymore."

"I'll think about it," Opal said, but didn't mean it, she just wanted Herry's extremely pushy friends to leave her alone. How did he manage to put up with them?

Neil nodded in acceptance and Opal latched onto that as a cue to turn on her heel and hightail it to her class.

* * *

Archie stood in the middle of the football field completely dumbfounded as Atlanta glared at him with fists on her hips. What had he done now? They were having such a good time, tossing a baseball back and forth while they should have been in their biology lab.

"Why does every time we hang out turn into some kind of date to you lately?" she asked in exasperation, tossing out her arms.

"Atlanta, I just," he sighed and shook his head, how many times had he said it, "I just want you to know, in case something happens."

"I know alright," she snapped and turned on her head to storm away. He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair as he watched her go. Screaming he spun on his heel and launched the baseball through the air. It whizzed over the school's fence and into someone's backyard garden. Huffing he turned back to the school intending to head back inside, but instead he found himself facing a girl with looping blonde curls. An involuntary squeak escaped his lips as he stumbled back a step.

"Quiet aren't yeah," he said as he laughed off his startle.

She shrugged and flashed a playful smile, her brown eyes flecking gold in the sunlight. With an alluring tone she asked, "Trouble with your girlfriend?"

"Oh, she's not my girlfriend," Archie said.

"No?" a sideways smile pulled on her plump lips glittering pink. She held out a hand and said, "I'm Emma."

"Archie," he sent back a smile of his own.

"Well since you're not tied down to anyone you're free Friday night for dinner right?" she asked with confidence. Archie chewed on his lip for a moment as he contemplated the invitation, he wasn't getting anywhere with Atlanta and this just might make her jealous.

"Why not," he said and reached into his pocket for his phone, "What's your number?"

"Give me a second," she reached into one of the many pockets on her baggy cargo pants, shrugging her shoulder with a smile, "I don't have it memorized yet."

"That's cool," he shrugged, his attention drawn to her attire. It was a little odd for a girl, clunky boots on her feet to match the pants. She didn't dress to accentuate any of her womanly features under her waists, only the black tang top revealed her magnificent curves, but she was beautiful. Maybe he was being too narrow sighted. Perhaps it was time to start giving other girls a chance. It seemed to be easier and easier to think that with this stunning woman flashing him sunshine smiles.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Opal had waited until the halls had cleared at the end of the school day. She stood in front of that janitor's closet. Slipping her fingers around the pendent in the pocket of her jeans she leaned forward to take a closer look at the panel on the door. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. She dug out the amulet, fumbling with the chain sliding down her fingers. Pinching it tight she set it into the depression with slow precision. The dial on the pendent's face began to spin, hidden gears zipping. With loosely clasped hands huddled close to her chest Opal watched in wide eyed curiosity. It made a full circle, but nothing happened.

She waited frozen in space and in time, the silence of the hallway ringing in her ears. With uncertain hesitation she reached out her fingers, twitching just before they brushed the cool metal of the pendent's dial. The gears made one last click and the golden piece jarred, sliding out from the depression to clatter on the ground like loose change. With a confused hum Opal scratched her head as she reached down to retrieve the amulet. Turning it over in her palm she studied its crevices and cracks, scraping out old dirt with her fingernail. Perhaps it was finicky like her old Nintendo cartridges, just needed the dust loosened up before they would play. She shinned the metal on her shirt for good measure before she held it up to the fluorescent lights for inspection.

Looking up she met brown eyes squinted in quiet thought, the boy with the purple and yellow polo. She sucked in a breath through her nose, widening her eyes at him. What was his name again? It was something simple, started with J, Jace, no… Jay, that was it, Jay. Jay was watching her through careful eyes, his breathing coming in slow and controlled breaths.

"Sorry," she said, looking down to her feet. Ramming the pendent into her pocket she motioned to step around him and his dark skinned friend, she could return later when there weren't curious bystanders watching her.

"Wait," he shot out a hand to grab her wrist, "What were you looking for, did you get it?"

"Oh, no, I wasn't looking for anything," she shook her head, twisting her hand from his grip, "I mean, I was just curious, but… never mind, there was nothing."

The relief that flooded his face and slouched his shoulders was immediate and obvious. He nodded and gave her a small smile before he looked to the boy beside him. They both exchanged a knowing look and a nod.

"Hey Opal," the smaller boy held out his hand, "I'm Odie, one of Herry's friends."

"Hi," she shook his hand for a brief moment and shifted on her feet as she waited to be dismissed from the conversation.

"Herry keeps talking about you, nice to finally put a face to the name," he said.

"Yeah," her interest in their talk pricked with his comment, "Umm, he talks about me?"

"Sure, you were his English partner weren't you?"

"Oh, yeah," she looked down to her feet, the disappointment ploughed though her stomach.

"So, you play violin," he prompted.

"Yeah," she said, her simple answer giving him nothing to expand off of. He groaned and looked down the hall to where Jay had disappeared, he better get back here with Theresa fast.

"Play piano too?"

"Mmm-hum," she nodded.

Oh, what else was there to talk about, "The weather's been nice lately, longer winter stays off the better eh?"

"Yeah," she shuffled away from him a step. Odie took an anxious glance over his shoulder one more time. His eyes lingered down the hall as his brain reeled for a conversation topic. Just as he was about to look back to the small girl squirming in discomfort with his presence Theresa and Jay appeared from around the corner, thank all of the gods. Trying to converse with this girl was a challenge on all of his social skills. She must have opened up more to Herry, because as of right that second he did not understand his best bud's attraction.

He took a step away as Theresa came up, allowing her to brush past him. Opal jumped like a mouse cornered by a cat when the redhead reached out a hand to press her fingers into her forehead, the other taking the pendent from her pocket. She attempted to slip away from Theresa, but before her foot could lift off the ground her shoulders went limp and her eyes glazed over.

"Opal?" Theresa took her fingers back and asked with soothing softness, leaning down a little to look her in the eyes, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Ahh," the blonde shook her head in confusion and blinked in rapid succession before answering, "Class just ended."

"Kay," a pleased smile tried to poke its way through on her face, but she suppressed it, reaching out a hand she patted a spot on Opal's head cushioned by her frizz of curls, "I guess we hit you pretty hard, it's been about fifteen minutes since school ended."

"Oh," she put her hand on the spot Theresa had, but it didn't hurt.

"This isn't yours is it?" Theresa held out the pendent she had confiscated from her seconds before, "It was just on the floor right there beside you."

Opal shook her head in slow and subtle movements.

"Alright, I'll drop it off at lost and found," Theresa said with a smile as she slipped it into her pocket, "Do you need a ride home? I can give you one."

"I live way out of town, I can just call for one," she said.

"Don't worry about it, I'll give you a ride," she took Opal's hand and started off down the hall. She attempted to wriggle her hand free of Theresa's grip as she stumbled along after her down the hallway. When the redhead came to an abrupt halt she skidded to a stop that placed her nose a hair behind Theresa's back, in her distraction Opal was finally able to free herself from her grip.

"What's going on?" the distraction had a very familiar voice.

"Ah, giving your friend a ride home," Theresa offered in weak response as she looked up to Herry.

He narrowed his eyes at her and glanced over to Opal, who was clearly distraught as she rubbed her head. Grabbing Theresa's arm he dragged her out of earshot and demanded the full story. Sucking at his teeth while Theresa talked he looked back over to Opal, she was watching them with curious eyes, her plump lips barely parted.

"I'll give her a lift," he said, smacking Theresa's arm with the back of his hand as he stepped over.

"I don't need a ride," Opal said to him the instant he finished speaking, "Can I just borrow your phone?"

He ignored her comment and reached out a hand to place on her head with hesitant care, his heart pounding with the prospect of touching her, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," she slipped her hand under his to rub the spot that still wasn't hurting.

"Let me give you a ride home," he said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder to the general direction of the parking lot, "I don't want to leave you alone if you have a concussion."

"You think I have a concussion?" he watched her face turn white as the blood drained away, dammit, he hadn't meant to scare her.

"No, no, I'm sure everything's fine," he said quickly taking back his words, placing a hand on the back of her shoulders to nudge her down the hall so she wouldn't see the self mockery that contorted his face into a scowl.

"You're sure?" she asked, looking back with the blue of her eyes flashing under her eyelashes, "Have you had a concussion before?"

"Many times," he said, huffing out a laugh through his smirk and kept pushing her down the hallway. He let his hand linger on her shoulder when she fell into a steady step, keeping it there for an extended moment before he dropped it to his side. She was quiet as they walked to his truck, keeping her swirling thoughts to herself as she let herself into the vehicle. He fished out a wire from the consol and passed it over, instructing her to put her iPod on. Odie had just recently weird up his radio with the adaption. She nodded and took the device from her bag, setting it on shuffled. The first song that shuffled on pounded his speakers with the heavy instruments of metal music. Herry paused his fiddling with the ignition to look over, the corner of his lip pulled up in confused disgust, like a cockroach had suddenly scurried across her face.

"What?" she asked.

"What is that?" he asked like he might if he was referring to a centipede nestled in a pile of day old laundry.

"Black Plague," she told him on a voice barely a whisper. He raised an eyebrow at her in complete shock, so she defended, "Metal has the best guitar riffs."

"I never would have pegged you as a metal head," he said, finally looking out the window and signaled out of his parking space.

"Fine, I'll switch it," she skipped to the next song and a chirping came over the speakers.

"What the hell is that?" he asked her, legitimately confused.

"Umm, it's an oven bird," she told him.

"You have bird calls on your iPod?" he asked unbelieving.

"Technically it's a bird song," she responded.

"And the difference is?"

"Songs are done at breading season to defend territory, and you know…"

"Get laid," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah," she nodded, cheeks flushing, "Calls are everything else and generally more simple sounds."

"Okay, but why do you have them?"

"Birds are really good singers," she responded in sheepish defense, giving her shoulders a sharp shrug.

"You have the strangest shit on your iPod," he concluded as he shook off the remainder of his surprise.

"Fine, you musical coward, I will put on some country," she scrolled through the device and put some on, "Happy?"

"Yes, thank you," he smiled, shaking his head at the spectrum of her iPod's library. Their conversation fell to a content end and the reminder of the drive was filled with the twang of country singers. Outside her house Herry flicked off his truck to walk her to the door, asking one more time if she was feeling alright. He could see the confusion that etched into her face whenever he asked. She would rub the spot on her head that obviously wasn't hurting and tell him she was fine.

"Just lay down for a bit," he told her, leaning against the doorframe.

"Sure," she said.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, you're sure I don't have a concussion?" she asked again.

He started to answer, but was cut off when she was pulled from the doorway. Her father gripped her arms and kneeled down to look her square in the eye.

"What happened?" he asked her. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. When she shifted her gaze over to the doorway John's concerned expression turned to irritation as he followed his daughter's eyes. Herry had faced countless monsters, stared into the eyes of an evil god without so much as batting an eye, but now, as he stood under John's angry gaze, a nervous sweat trickled down his back. He felt his shoulders shrug up in instinct, he offered Opal's father a small smile while he waited in anticipation for him to say something. John simply repeated his question.

"I wasn't there," he said, "Theresa, my friend said it was a field hockey puck."

"You were playing field hockey?" he turned to ask his daughter in utter disbelief.

She shook her head, and the confusion on his face deepened. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Dropping his daughter's arms he reached for a set of keys sitting on the table in the landing.

"Thanks for bringing her home Herry," John said to him and gestured for Opal to follow him out the door.

"Where are we going?" she asked him as she shuffled back outside.

"The emergence room," he said.

"Dad," she stopped to complain, tossing out her hands, "I don't want to go to emerge, we'll be there all night."

"No buts missy," he sent her a glare from over his shoulder and pointed to the car, "Come on."

Hunching her shoulders she groaned and tossed Herry a stare that said, 'this is entirely your fault.'

He shrugged and sent her an innocent smile, suppressing his laugh until she was securely seated in the passenger seat of her father's car.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Theresa was talking to Opal the next morning when Herry came over to his locker, she was stifling a yawn and blinking sleepy eyes as the redhead talked. Ignoring Theresa's unusual presence he sent the small girl a knowing smile.

"Three hours," she told him with a scowl, "Three hours of sitting in a smelly room with children screaming nonstop for them to determine no concussion. I love my dad, but sometimes he needs to calm down."

"You spent the night in emerge?" Theresa hissed and sent an apologetic smile.

"Yeah," she shrugged as she turned to Theresa, the playful sarcasm in her voice evaporating as she addressed her, "I'm going to head to class."

"I'll walk with you," Theresa exclaimed, straightening as she took a step down the hall. Opal shielded away from the redhead, shuffling closer to the lockers.

"Theresa," Herry said in a voice drizzled in honey, "Can I talk to you?"

"What do you want?" she shot over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he leaned down to whisper in her ear as Opal quickly grabbed onto the escape he had created and scurried off down the hall.

"Making friends, what do you think I'm doing?" she told him.

"Making friends with the girl I like conveniently right after you learned I liked her," he said as he began to rummage around the bottom of his locker for his books, like a raccoon searching through a garbage bin, "I know you, stop trying to make shit happen. I really don't think it's the best thing for me to start dating, especially with a girl that's descended from a Greek hero."

"Ugh, since when did you turn into Jay?" she crossed her arms over her chest and jutted out her hip.

"Theresa, just stop meddling," he said, standing straight to toss his locker closed. Theresa huffed and blew at her bangs. Asking her to stop meddling was like asking a lion to stop hunting.

* * *

"Where are you going all dressed up like that?" Atlanta asked Archie as he came up the stairs from his room. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot as she waited for his answer.

"I'm not dressed up," he held out his arms and looked down to his jeans and black shirt.

"More than your usual," she said and raised an eyebrow.

"I have a date," he told her.

"A date?" she asked, narrowing her eyes to a sliver of a squint, her brows knitting together as she scowled, "With who?"

"Emma," he said, slipping by her to put his shoes on.

"Emma," she said with a hiss as she sneered, committing the fowl name to memory.

"Yeah," he said as he opened the door and stepped out onto the concrete steps.

"Whatever, have a good time," she yelled. She ripped the door from his hand and slammed in his face. A pang of guilt shot through him as he stared at the wood of the brownstone's front door. Atlanta rushed to the living room to watch him leave with his date. She growled and clenched her hands into fists. That frumpy blonde was touching her man. Atlanta stormed back to the landing and laced up her runners.

As she followed Archie and this Emma she stayed at a safe distance, lingering behind corners of building when she could to catch a section of their conversation. They made their way downtown where they mostly window shopped. Atlanta huffed to herself, this wasn't Archie. He wouldn't be caught dead on a date like this with her. Then why did he look so darn happy with shopping? This chick wasn't worth drooling over like he was. Sure she had princess worthy hair styled in perfect curls waving all the way down her back, but it wasn't _that_ shiny. She did have a stunning body, but it was much too delicate for Archie, not like her own fit and cut body. And what was up with her clothes, it was like dressing up Theresa in Atlanta's wardrobe. It was obvious she was trying to be a tomboy, but true tomboys like herself didn't paint their faces like this woman did.

Gnawing on her lip with her arms crossed over her chest Atlanta leaned against the side of a dumpster, peaking around it to watch Archie and his date sitting on the curb beside a fire hydrant. They were licking ice cream cones, playfully smudging it on one another's noses and cheeks. Her laugh sounded like sugary taffy promising the cavity drill at the dentist. Atlanta rubbed at her nose crinkled so much with scowl it looked like it belonged on a pug.

She growled when Archie reached out a hand to place on Emma's knee. His date startled and jarred both legs away. Her knee wacked the fire hydrant beside her and the sharp ring of metal on metal reverberated. The anger etched into Atlanta's face was replaced with confusion.

"Are you okay?" Archie asked, skepticism coming through on his voice as he leaded away.

"Oh yeah," she waved off his concern and rubbed her knee, but it didn't even look like she felt the blow.

"That was, it sounded…" Archie said, drawing his brows together.

"Ah," she reached up a hand to toss her long hair over her shoulder, "I didn't want to tell you right away, but I have a prosthetic. It scares some people off."

"Oh," Archie's face dropped in embarrassment, "no, no, it's fine. You walk really well with it, I couldn't even tell."

"Thanks," she smiled.

"How long have you had it?"

"I'd rather not talk about it right now," she said, "Is that okay?"

"For sure," he got to his feet and offered down his hand, "now where to?"

"I don't know," she sent him a bright smile and placed her hand in his. Atlanta pursed her lips and scrunched her nose as she watched them walk away again, this time hand in hand. Emma walked with no hint of a limp, Atlanta wasn't very accustom with amputees, but she was fairly certain Emma had a little more control over her supposed prosthetic than most. She turned on her heel to jog back to the brownstone. There was some research she needed to begin.

* * *

Theresa had placed a nasty little bug in Opal's ear that morning at her locker. She had pleaded with her to ask Herry out as just friends at the least. Friends, the more she thought about it the better an idea it became. At the end of that school day when she thought she had summoned enough courage to ask her stomach threatened to empty everything she had put into it for the past week onto the floor. It was infuriating. How was she ever going to get over her nerves?

"Fish on," John called with excitement, pointing to the tip of her rod jerking down to the water. Opal snapped out of her daze and picked herself up from where she leaned on the pier's railing. She started to reel in the fishing line, but her father threw up a protest, "Set the hook, set the hook."

She huffed and snapped the rod up to ensure whatever fish was down there was snagged. This was the part her father always raved about, the thrill from the fight of the fish. She never understood what he was talking about. Reeling in the fish was tedious, aggravating, not in the least bit fun.

"Look at that," John said, whooping out a hardy laugh as he reached down for the sole the length of his forearm, "That's dinner."

"Mmm," she nodded as she humored him. Grinning he freed the fish from the hook and tossed it in the cooler he had converted into a livewell. He rigged up her rod with new bait and instructed her to cast out again. She followed his orders and dropped her elbows back on the metal railing, slouching her shoulders and leaning her cheek into her fist.

When her father had overcame his excited reencounter of her catch and the silence of the afternoon beside the ocean was restored she hesitantly asked, "How did you ask mom out?"

He laughed lightly and shook his head, looking down to the water with crinkled eyes, "We met in a garden, one of the many parks in New York. She looked like belonged there in the big city, whimsical and worldly, and me? I was a fisherman from a town in Nova Scota that barley had a population over one thousand people. I hadn't even wanted to come to New York, some of my collage friends dragged me along. So, I was trying to escape the city, go be with the trees."

He paused to look up to the soft wisps of clouds in memory, he swept his hand in front of him and continued, "She was beautiful sitting there playing her clarinet, worlds away from who I was, but I walked over to her and I said, 'Excuse me, I know a beautiful woman like you shouldn't have anything to do with a guy like me, but I'm John.'

"She looked up at me and I probably looked like a hick to her in my plaid flannel and ripped jeans. She smiled her sweet, little smile, held out her hand and said, 'Ophelia.'

"'Ophelia,' I had said, 'I'm not from around here, do you think you could show me a good place to eat?'

"She bit her lip and thought about it for an excruciating minute, but then she said, 'I get off class at four, meet me at the Marson square diner.' Well, I gave her the most ridiculous smile that has ever crossed my face and the rest is history."

"But how did you do it?" she asked again and specified, "What about the nerves."

"Just tell them to huck it," he kicked out his foot against the railing, "Chickadee, sucking up the nerves for one moment was more than worth everything that came after." She hummed and looked back to the ocean. John chuckled and reached out his hand to shove her shoulder, "I like that boy."

"Uh," her cheeks burned red, she refused to glance to her father as she spoke, wrapping the short hair at the base of her neck around her finger, "What boy?"

"The one you want to ask out," he said with a laugh, "What's his name again, Henry?"

"Herry," she was quick to correct. John just laughed and the colour on Opal's face deepened.

John cleared his throat, a warm smile still on his face, "I know what it's like, your tongue suddenly forgets how to make words and your heart's going so hard you can hardly think of the ones you want to say, but you'll regret it more if you never ask."

"Thanks Dad," she said, watching her fishing line where it disappeared under the blue.

"Any time Chickadee," he said with a smile, cupping a hand around her head to pull her in and smack a kiss on her curls. She may not like fishing, but she definitely appreciated the time she got to spend with her dad.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Herry didn't mind helping out his granny, he would do anything she asked without question. Today's visit included him rearranging her living room, cleaning the eaves troughs and lastly, walking Pepe. The dog pranced along beside him, a pink bow tied in his fur atop his head. He could only imagine what he looked like, a guy his size walking around his grandmother's sissy dog.

There was a path he liked to take through the nature trails near his granny's house, but today he strayed from his regular path. He stuck to the roads heading west to the ocean, rounding blocks that would take him to Opal's house. He slowed as he walked by. Admiring the flower bed and the wooden archway above the door, noting the lights in the upstairs windows were off, but it was still early in the afternoon. He knew he didn't put his bedroom light on until the sun was begging to go down, it was no way to judge the current occupancy of the house.

He stopped for Pepe to sniff around in the grass on the lawn, his heart beginning to pound. Swallowing hard he tugged on the dog's pink leash and led him over to the driveway. What would she think if he knocked on her door to invite her to walk with him and his granny's dog? He took one step off the sidewalk onto the stone walkway to the door. Nope, his throat constricted and he spun on his heel. He couldn't do it. He could picture her face when the door opened. That look that said, 'why are you here creep?' Tugging Pepe along behind him Herry hurried to the end of the road, dropping into his regular sloth like stride only after he rounded the corner.

He sighed and watched the Ocean as he walked the old road, pavement crumbling into gravel. The road was up on the top of a hill, rocks piled down to the beach. He followed the deteriorating path and it wove down from the hill to a marina. It wasn't the regular one in town where Jay had his sailboat, where he and his friends went to swim. This one had the nose crunching and throat gagging smell of fish. It was more raggedy than the harbor in town, some of the wooden boards rotted to the point of hazardous. The boats bobbing in the water were grimy, loaded down with mechanisms, nets wrapped up on the deck. It was clear to him this was the fishing marina, more than likely where Opal's father worked.

He tossed his shoes off in the sand grasses on the beach. The sand was warm on his feet, sticking between his toes. He led Pepe to the hard sand flattened down by the rolling of waves, more solid to walk on. Pepe barked and nipped at the small waves lapping up on shore beside them. It was rather relaxing to walk along the water, feel the cool moisture of the sand on the soles of his feet and the salty breeze wafting in from the ocean.

He was in his own little world when he heard the sharp scream. He looked for the sound, his body constricting as he readied himself for the worst. It was most likely unnecessary, but it was instinct. He looked to the fishing docks just in time to see a black ball of fur leap into the water. A splash erupted up from the ocean where the dog landed, water droplets glimmering in the sunlight. On the other end of the leather leash was a little girl with a head full of blonde curls. Herry's body was moving towards her before his mind even registered.

Opal could swim, he knew, he had gone swimming with her before, but his adrenalin was still translating her fall as something much more threatening. Like it had been a soup of venomous snakes she had landed in and not just calm ocean water. She surfaced just as he was nearing her on the docks, the water around her rippling with movement and splashes. She sucked in a deep breath and pushed her hair from her face, looking for the black dog paddling around in the water.

"Rye," she scolded and shoved at her thick chest like an irritated child might have done. She barked happily and swam in circles around the girl, slurping a lick up the side of her face. Opal growled in frustration and dropped under the water again, she went straight down and under the dock to the other side to get away from the Newfie. Herry followed her shadowed figure between the boards of the dock. It had been ludicrous to be concerned about her in the water, she had grown up living beside the ocean her entire life. She was a strong swimmer. When she surfaced again she reached her hands up for the dock, with the clear intention to pull herself up, but she stopped with a surprised gasp when she spotted him, her eyes wide under her bangs weighed down by the heavy moisture.

"Hey, I was just walking by," he said to her, rubbing the back of his neck as his cheeks warmed, "Umm, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," she said. They stared at one another in awkward silence for a long moment. Closing her mouth to clear her throat Opal reached up her hand to him.

"Oh yeah, sorry," he took her arm and lifted her from the water in a quick and secure motion. A small squeak of surprise escaped her, her nails digging into the muscle of his bicep. It took her a moment to get her footing, finding herself back on solid ground a lot faster than she had expected.

"Thanks," she said, taking back her hand and stepping away from his gentle yet solid grip on her elbow.

"No problem," he sent her a dazed smile looking down to meet her eyes, but he was distracted by her clinging white shirt. He liked the light purple colour her bra was.

He snapped his focus away from her chest when she pulled at the fabric of her shirt exactly where he was looking. Face on fire, he began looking for Pepe. He was on the dock reaching out his little quivering paws as he readied himself for a leap into the ocean. Cursing he lunged for the leash, just missing as Pepe jumped, splashing up salt in his face. He groaned in irritation as he watched the little dog swim around with the big one, barking at one another in their soggy fun. Great, now he'd have to give the gods damned thing a bath when they got back to his gran's.

"Rye," Opal addressed the dog, she pointed to the shore and ordered, "Beach." The black mass in the water began to paddle over and Pepe followed along behind. Ringing out the wetness in her shirt Opal began to walk the length of the dock back to the sand, and Herry went with her, obedient as either one of the dogs.

The silence between them constricted around him, for some reason he felt the need to speak, "They look like their having fun together."

"Hmm?" she looked over her shoulder to him, water droplets on the ends of her curls jarring free to fall on the wood of the dock.

"The dogs," he clarified.

"Oh, yeah," she said and looked forward again, shifting her crossed arms higher up on her chest. Yep, she had definitely noticed him staring there. The silence extended once more and Herry accepted its uncomfortable presence. Reaching the beach they scooped up the leashes of their respective dogs. Opal began in the direction of her home, where he had come from a little while before. She gave him a good-bye and a wave as she walked.

"Wait," he said, "I have to go that way too, just let me get my shoes."

She gave him a slight nod, her arms doing their best to find the optimal position to cover her exposed cleavage while she waited. He joined back up with her and in unspoken agreement they began walking. It was a short hike to Opal's home and neither one of them said anything along their stroll.

Outside of her house Opal muttered the expected goodbye and shuffled up the path to the front door. Herry stayed put to watch her go, scolding himself for the obvious discomfort he had placed on her. His stomach flipped when she paused and looked back over her shoulder. Her eyes caught with his for a moment, but she was fast to dart them down to her feet. With slow steps she tiptoed her way back to the sidewalk where he stood. His heart was hammering, his lungs constricting more and more with each of her steps closing the distance between them. The only reason he could think of for her return was to enlighten him on the fact he had been a total pervert.

She stopped in front of him, Rye still panting beside her and with quiet hesitation she asked, "Are you going to the jam fest this weekend?"

"No," he said with a voice hardly a whisper. He looked down at her, but she wouldn't take her eyes off her fingers combing the fur on top of Rye's head, "What is it?"

"Awesome," she smiled down at the dog, still refusing to look him in the eye, "A bunch of local musicians gather up in Centennial Park and do their thing."

"And you're going," he said.

"Can't wait," she nodded, she swallowed hard and then asked on a shallow whisper, her blue eyes flashing up to his for a quick moment, "So, do you want to tag along with me?"

His heart felt like it would burst from his chest and his stomach decided it was better fit for residence in his throat. His senses suddenly became heightened, the hairs on his neck tingled where they meet skin, the breeze was a touch cooler than it had been a minute ago and the smell of wet dog registered in his nose. His expression went blank as his mind swirled. What was this? Was she asking him on a date or was this just as friends? He wasn't sure what he wanted it to be. He had already decided he wasn't going to ask her out, but he never considered the possibility that she would ask him. What was he going to say? He did not want her to find out anymore about his life, if they started dating could he keep his secrets just that, secrets. Or maybe he was just overanalyzing everything about her intent.

Quickly Opal retreated her invitation, waving her hands in front of him as she said, "It's cool if you don't want to go, I know it's not really your thing. I just didn't have anyone else to ask."

Friends, that's definitely what this sounded like, but still, the more time he spent with her the more he put her at risk. He cleared his throat and said, "Can I get back to you tomorrow on that?"

"Sure," she nodded and forced a smile.

"Right on," he said and turned, cursing under his breath as he strolled away with Pepe, he sounded like such a tool. Well that ruined any plans he had for the night. Now he would argue with himself for hours as he tried to decide what to do. He brooded as he walked, so caught up in his head he almost missed the call on his PMR. A quick glance at the caller ID signaled his evening was about to become a lot more eventful.

* * *

Odie was in the back corner of Ares' training arena where he had set up a small work station. He was fiddling with his portal shifter, soldering the last wires. He flicked it on and stood back, the blue dome of its range quickly expanded, as it always had, but the problem before was that it would rush right back, pendulum in and out from the source. Odie waited for a few minutes when the dome didn't waver he let out an elated holler, pumping his fist into the air.

"Jay!" he yelled and searched the room for his leader.

"What is it Odie?" he asked from across the room, where he and Atlanta were sparing, trying out new maneuvers Ares had just taught them.

"I got it, it's finished," he pointed to his creation with a beaming smile, "We'll finally get Cronus back where he belongs."

"What?" he said, dropping his sword behind him as he picked up a sprint.

"Yeah man," Odie said with exuberance.

"Ha," Jay let out a cheery laugh as he came up beside his teammate and slapped him on the back, "Great work Odie." He laughed again as he looked down to the silver box. There was nothing special about it, it didn't even look nice with its exposed circuits and blinking lights, but Jay had never laid his eyes on anything more beautiful, more promising. His sleepless nights and endless worrying could very soon be coming to a close.

The timing for Hermes to rush into the room in a panic could not have been more painfully placed. There was Odie's contraption waiting to be used, but no time to plan out its most optimal strategy. Jay could not risk the use the device in this episode with Cronus. He could not have the God of Time know its intention before he was sealed in a dark cell of Tartarus. That meant he only had one chance to plan it out perfectly and that time was not now.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Herry was blaring through the twisting roads of the mountain. He was totally engrossed on his driving, making impeccable passes and flawless turns with every shift in the path. Hands gripping the steering wheel in the proper ten and two position, eyes focused on the road. The rest of the team latched onto armrests and doors, watching the pines and the redwoods blur together from the window.

"Shit," he slammed on the breaks and they all lurched forward, the seatbelt ripping into sides and forcing the air from lungs. Still Herry whizzed past the police car at ten over the speed limit. He hissed through his teeth and instantly looked to his rearview mirror for the blaring blue and red lights, but the cop stayed put. He let out a relieved laugh and speed right back up again.

"You lucky bastard," Odie said to him, looking over from the truck's right side mirror.

"You have no idea," he said, "I have never been pulled over and I speed all of the time, _all _of the time. It's got to be some rub off effect from Neil."

"Yeah, you know it," Neil smiled and buffed his nails on his shirt.

"What would you say if you ever were pulled over?" Archie inquired, "Do you know how fast you were going sir?"

"Oh, you know, I'm just late for my appointment, _saving the world_," Herry said animatedly.

"Right," Archie nodded and flipped open an imaginary ticket book, "Well, that will be a five hundred dollar fine, and your vehicle's impounded."

"Gods," he groaned, "I would lose my shit." A good laugh was just what the group needed to bide of the nerves as they approached the blinking red dot on the GPS of Jay's PMR. Herry swerved his truck off road and they crept into a clearing in the woods. They heard the tremor of a deep growl the moment the door of the truck opened. With quiet toes they stepped out onto the bed of soft pine needles, waiting ready to meet the beast that was making that noise.

A two headed dog the size of a pick-up burst through the redwoods, snarling and snapping. Air was sucked from lungs like a vacuum and refused reentry. The dog was covered in a short black fur. Both of its heads broad and dense, heavy with thick bone. Its snarled mouths full of razor sharp teeth, all tapering to a piercing point. Its pointed ears were folded back against its neck, yellow eyes watching and waiting.

Jay waved his sword, instantly drawing the dog's attention, it charged growling. Jay rolled out of the way. The beast was agile and was on top of the boy before he could recover from his dive. Archie propelled his whip through the air. Snapping the dog's mouth shut as the wire wrapped around its jaw, just before it closed its teeth around Jay's shoulder. The small distraction was enough for Jay to dart away before the second head had the change to lunge at him. The beast struggled to get out of Archie's restraint. In its distraction Atlanta threw her bolas to tangle its front paws, sending it face first into the ground with a tremoring thud.

A growl resonated from its bound mouth and a deep bark from the other. Biting at the bonds on its feet, its razor teeth easily sliced it free again. Bounding back up the beast jerked its head away from Archie, pulling the hero off balance and sending him hurdling into the ground. Lying in the pricking bed of needles Archie lost his grip on his whip. With the tension gone the dog shook off the whip and lunged for him, helpless on the ground. With a scream, Herry intercepted it, stopping the beast dead in its leap. It snapped its teeth at him but couldn't make contact before it was thrown sideways into a massive douglas fir. It let out a sharp yelp when it landed on its back at the base of the tree. In an instant it had overcame its shock and was rolling back onto its feet, snarling wildly.

"Glad you could make it," Cronus voiced in cheery nature as he followed the beast into the clearing, like a friend welcoming guests to dinner, "Do you like my pet?"

"What is that thing?" Jay asked, stance wide and poised for combat. With nerves on edge he watched the monster, its lips pulled back in a snarl and drool dribbling from its maw. With its glowing yellow eyes the dog watched Jay, its muscles twitching in anticipation to lunge.

"Orthrus, Cerberus' brother, can't you see the family resemblance?" Cronus said with a smirk.

"Yeah the multiple heads and the snake for a tail," Herry scoffed. Cronus just smiled and smacked the dog on its rear, Orthrus instantly barreled into a charge, hardly giving the group enough time to tumble out of the way. Neil shrieked and ran for a hiding place. The dog picked up on the screech and scanned the trees as it rampaged. Neil wrapped his arms around his head and dropped to the ground like a boulder through water when the beast started running towards the tree he was huddled against. Orthrus sailed over top of the boy and face first into another tree. The force of the collision ripped the spruce from its roots and it crashed to the forest floor, sending the dog in a tumbling spectacle of summersaults.

"Huh," Neil said looking up from the ground, arms still over his head, butt sticking up in the air. Odie sprung on the chance to fire a balled net from his shoulder mounted gun. The force of the shot sent the small boy staggering back a step before he could regain his balance. Unfolding like a spider's web the net swooshed as it swirled through the air to tangle the beast. Herry was the first to the captured monster, quickly he drew any openings in the trap closed, ensnaring the dog further. Orthrus thrashed and struggled against its bonds, snarling in its frustrated anger.

Realizing his pet was in trouble Cronus jumped into action. Striding over he sliced the ropes of the net with his scythe. A simple knick from the god's weapon left Herry in a dangerous position beside the unrestrained and furious monster. Free of his bonds Orthrus sprang to his feet. One snapping jaw lunged for Herry with teeth bared. It was too close range for him to process the scene and react appropriately. The only thing Herry could manage to do was toss up his left arm for the beast to latch onto rather than his throat.

The dagger teeth slipped through the meat of his forearm as easily as a well sharpened knife. He felt the muscle part. The pain burst. He hollered as it surged up to to his shoulder, across his chest to seize his lungs. Orthrus shifted his jaw, mincing his arm with his teeth. Vision spotting black Herry let out a deep growl and pushed himself off of his knees, back to his feet. The teeth imbedded in his flesh twisted and ripped the muscle in his forearm. He screamed in frustration and desperation, instinct brought his right fist into the temple of the mouth that held him. Herry's fist coming in contact with the dog's thick boned skull made a sickening crunch of fracturing bone.

Atlanta jumped to his aid and unleashed a flurry of crossbow bolts towards the beast, the purple bolts dug into its flesh. The pressure on his arm disappeared and he felt the warm wetness of his blood on his skin as it began spewing from the open holes, quickly mixing with the saliva soaking his arm.

"Herry?" Jay yelled.

"I'm fine," he called in harsh reply, staggering back to the ranks. At his side he experimentally clenched the fist of his wounded arm, a jolt of pain shot up through his muscles. He groaned in frustration and slowly rotated his wrist, and more knives swam up the nerves of his arm.

"You're the only guy I know that would almost get his arm ripped off and then brush is off as just a flesh wound," Atlanta said.

He sent her a bemused smirk, but he could tell he was losing blood fast, even if he couldn't feel the symptoms yet. He could feel the warm, continuous stream flowing down to his fingers, painting his arm crimson. His blood dripped to the needle cover from his fingertips like a leaky tap. He knew there was damage that would take months to reverse. He could feel the uncomfortable strain on every tendon and ligament. It would be a long while before his left arm became as capable as his right once more.

Cronus laughed a sharp, cheery laugh seeing his pet had struck one of his opponents, "Looks like your back's against the wall Jay." Orthrus lowered both his heads and barked a sound that would make thunder cower. His ears were pressed right back against his head. If they had thought the dog was mad before, he was furious now. Jay panted as his mind raced, the beast had already knocked them down without being at its full potential. His muscles jumped with anticipation. From the corner of his eye he caught Herry sway, holding his hand over as many of the tooth marks as he could, but it wasn't enough to keep the danger of him bleeding out at bay.

They could try to retreat, but Herry's truck was yards away, Orthrus blocking their path to it. The keys were tucked away in Herry's pocket, and there was no way he could drive with the amount of blood he was losing. His team was standing firm through their exhausted heaving. Every single one of them would fight until the end, he knew, but this couldn't be the end. It was just a dog. They had gone up against much tougher monsters, but they had never had someone in danger of sever blood loss either. Jay growled in frustration, gripping his sword in a white knuckled fist. Time was not on his side.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Herry's vision was still sharp. He was still able to follow the fight and react accordingly, but his balance was starting to betray him. He was having trouble coordinating his footing. His shirt has been torn off to crudely wrap around his seeping wounds. At the least he had his right hand free to fight. Jay was making an obvious effort to stay close to him.

Exhaustion was creeping up on them all. Breaths came in labored gasps and muscles strained with exertion. Orthrus would not budge from between the heroes and the truck, keeping their chance for retreat isolated. They hadn't seemed to be gaining any ground on the beast, the back and forth was continuous. Jay didn't know how much longer they could keep it up for.

Beside him Herry staggered, Jay was only fast enough to help guide him to his knees. He gnawed on his lip as he looked at Herry's once green shirt wrapped around his arm. His usual sun kissed skin was flushed white. Herry groaned and reached over a hand to push Jay away, leaving a bloody print on the side of his yellow shirt.

"I'll be fine," he said and nodded over to the dog, "Worry about that." Jay hummed through pursed lips and looked over. Theresa, Archie and Atlanta were doing a decent job in distracting it at the moment.

"Come on man, I don't want to leave you here," he bent down to hook his arm under Herry's and hauled him to his feet. Jay dropped him down near the forest's edge and looked back to the fight in time to see Archie snap his whip around the snapping jaw that was just about to come down on Theresa. Springing over to the fray he swooped under Archie's whip and with an agile twist he tore his sword through the flesh of the dog's shoulder.

Orthrus yelped in surprised pain and retreated with a heavy limp. Jay let out a relieved sigh; finally they were gaining some ground. He spared a quick glance to Theresa, back on her feet and ready to fight. Pointing he started barking out orders to surround the beast and bring it down. His team was nimble with his orders, in seconds everyone was in place. Orthrus snarled and barked, lurching to the side he barreled into Atlanta, knocking her with his shoulder. She went flying into a thick tree trunk with a horrid crunch and fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Atlanta," Archie rushed for her, tangling the dog's feet with his whip as he went. He yanked the beast off balance and it went crashing to the ground. Atlanta had pushed herself to her hands and knees, gasping for breath when Archie reached her. Tucking his arm under hers he pulled her to her feet.

"I'm okay," she managed on a strangled breath, slipping out from Archie's support. Odie put himself between them and the beast, its footing regained. That slice Jay had made on its shoulder hadn't caused as much damage as he had thought. Holding his stun gun ready, he locked eyes with Orthrus. With dagger teeth bared it started to tread towards him. Its limp was still there, but hardly noticeable. Odie's mind raced for a solution. They needed one good shot at something vital and this could end this now.

The roaring of an engine cutting through the trees pulled his attention away from the battle. There was a flash of pearled white and then a man launching himself off the back of a motorcycled to the beast's back. Knife unsheathed and held tight in both hands, arms over his head. Percival drove his stiletto hilt deep into the section of the dog's shoulders where the spine for either head split. Orthrus cried out in pain and bucked. Jumping to solid ground, Percival landed neatly on his boots. He sliced his knife through the air, sending an arch of black blood flying.

The beast howled and whined. He would charge a few paces but then stumble in pain and retreat again. Cronus growled in frustration and stormed over to the dog. He whipped up a portal and disappeared through it with his now useless monster. The whole assembly of heroes was quiet for a moment, the natural silence of the forest now deafening with the absence of Orthrus' snarling. Jay watched the elderly man in slack jawed appreciation, when things died down he would need to talk to him about training. He was sure to have tricks to teach him and his team.

Percival scanned over the young heroes with hard eyes. He looked over to Herry and called his name.

"I'm fine," he said and forced himself to his feet. Jay dropped his sword and rushed over to help his friend to the truck.

"Get him to Chiron," Percival ordered, turning back to his bike tipped over in the mud.

"Can someone get my keys, left pocket," Herry said.

"Yep," Odie said, slipping his hand into his pocket sticky with blood. He made a sound of disgust and did his best to clean off the teeth of the key on his shirt.

"Odie can you drive?" Jay asked.

"Yeah," he replied, unlocking the truck.

"Odie," Herry warned as Jay ushered him into the passenger seat, "You break it…"

"It won't get so much as a smudge," he promised as he hopped into the driver's seat and turned over the ignition. Herry couldn't get comfortable in the passenger seat of his truck. It wasn't even the pain that was bothering him most. It was the churning in his stomach as he watched Odie's driving, the itches that poked up in random placed around his body. He clawed at the one on his cheek and shifted further down into his seat with an irritated groan.

"Odie," he called, "the speed limit's ninety."

"Herry," he said, "you speed all of the time for less of an emergency than this." Herry leaned forward to rest his head on the glove box, his stomach constricting further. He knew when his mouth suddenly became watery it wasn't Odie's driving that was making him nauseous.

"Pull over," he groaned. Herry had the door open before the truck even made it to a stop, staggering out of the door he dropped to his knees, tearing them up on the gravel. He fell forward onto his right hand and heaved into the ditch. Theresa came up behind him, her hand feeling alarmingly cold on his sweat slicked back.

"You're really warm," she said with sudden panic, she tugged his shoulder back and gathered up his face in both her hands. He wasn't about to tell her that he didn't feel warm, it was quite the opposite, there was chill that struck him to the bone.

"We need to move," Percival hollered over the rumbling of his engine, his motorcycle stopped behind Herry's truck.

Theresa moved her hands to Herry's upper arms and tugged him upward to signal she wanted him to get to his feet, "Come on let's get you back to the school."

He nodded as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. With a groan he rose from the graveled side of the road. He followed Theresa into the truck and settled down against the passenger door, closing his eyes and resting his temple against the glass of the window. It was funny how it always felt better after vomiting, at least now he could sit still.

"Ugh," he straightened and peeked under the cloth of his blood soaked shirt wrapped around his arm, "Why hasn't the bleeding slowed down?"

"There must have been an anticoagulant in the saliva," Odie replied with simple certainty.

"Odie, I have _no_ idea what that means," he shot back in irritation, his patience for his friends scientific explanations worn paper thin by his pain.

"Anticoagulant, it stops blood from clotting, things like leaches and mosquitoes have it in their saliva," he explained.

"You feeling light headed?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, no shit," Herry responded shortly.

"I see you're also feeling grumpy," Neil taunted.

"You're lucky you're in the back seat Neil," he said and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the window of the passenger door. He could feel his mind starting to slip into blackness. Biting his lip he fought to stay awake. He didn't know how long it took to get back to the school, but it felt like an eternity. When the truck came to a stop he forced his eyes open and reached for the door handle.

"You doing okay man?" Jay took Herry's upper arm once he was out of the vehicle.

"I've been better," he replied, leaning on Jay as he led him into the school towards Chiron's office. The floor wobbled wherever he stepped and the walls shifted. His friends walking in front of him spilt into sets of twos. He groaned and blinked them into focus. If Jay wasn't there beside him to help orient his balance he would have long ago been keeled over on the floor. When they made it to Chiron's study he collapsed on the centaur's examination bench.

"What's going on?" the horse man asked urgently. His eyes scanned his guests, hovering on the gray haired man for a moment. Looking to Herry Chiron worked out the answer to the question himself, "Someone get me the IV." Quickly he gathered up supplies or called for others to get it for him. Taking Herry's arm he tugged off the makeshift bandage and washed the area clean. Then he began the tedious work of stitching the wounds closed.

"Herry, can you still hear me," he asked, noting the boy's stillness.

"Mmm," he replied but didn't open his eyes.

"Good," Chiron said taking the IV from Jay and rounded to the other side of the table to turn up Herry's hand with intent to search for a vein there. Finding his hand covered in blood dried brown he disinfected his forearm with his alcohol swab. The needle went in smoothly; he taped the tube down and gently lay Herry's arm back down on the bench.

Herry sank further against the table with a deep sigh, muscles that had been constricting in pain since the incident finally relaxed. The relief from the intravenous was instant. The tension from everyone else in the room dissipated when they saw the ease in their friend's pain. Chiron finished up the stitches and then dressed his arm with pristine white bandages. The last step was to wash up the blood Herry managed to have smeared all over himself.

While he worked Chiron instructed the teen to take it easy with his left side for the next little while. Jay's shoulders hunched as Chiron lectured, it would be a task and a half to make sure Herry took it easy, recuperating on a couch never did bode well the guy's active lifestyle. A sprained ankle had been his last injury, custody of a giant boar, and the gods damned fool went out for a jog the same weekend. If Jay could chain him to his bed he would, but the beast of a man would just bust his way out of them. It was going to be a long week.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

It was Theresa's turn to check up on Herry, he had been passed out since about five. She expected to find him still asleep, but instead she caught him laying on his back on the floor tossing a medicine ball into the air. He leaned his head back to look over to the door, his eyes glazed over by the pain killers. He forgot the medicine ball for a vital moment and it landed on his chest with a thud, forcing the air from his lungs.

"Herry," Theresa scolded and rushed over to help him sit. Coughing he pushed her away and lied back down on his side. Theresa looked down at him with hands on her hips and shook her head, "Are you okay?"

"No," he moaned.

She rolled her eyes and reached down to sit him up again, "Why don't you lay down in your bed?"

"No," he shook his head. He fell out of her light grip on his arms and onto his back, cracking his head against the hard wood floor. Reached up a hand to massage his scalp he let out a low grown.

"Herry," she pinched the bridge of her nose and let out an aggravated sigh. He reached for his medicine ball, but Theresa kicked it away from him, "You're going to split open your stitches."

"No," he said, arm reaching for his ball as if some kind of force would make it roll back to him.

"Do you have any other words left in your vocabulary?" she asked as she stepped over him to his bed. She swiped up his pillow to tuck under his head and his comforter to toss over him.

"Theresa," he asked in bafflement, kicking off the blanket to push himself up. Sitting cross legged on the floor he looked up to her and said, "What are you doing? I don't want to sleep on the floor."

"Ugh," she smacked her face into her palm, taking his pillow to put back on his bed when he handed it to her, "Do you want to get in bed then?"

"I want to," he crawled over to his bed and crossed his arms on the mattress and leaned his chin on his wrist, "I want to go."

"What? Go where?" Theresa asked him in confusion.

"Nah I shouldn't."

"Herry, I don't know what you're talking about," she dropped down on his bed and rubbed his shoulder, "You're going to need to help me out."

"Do you think I should?" he leaned his head to the side to glance up to her.

"Should what?"

"Go out."

Theresa closed her eyes as she searched for a little more patience to deal with her friend's drugged mind, "Go out where?"

"Jam… some music thing in the park."

"What, why would you…" she said to herself as she thought out loud, she snapped her fingers when everything clicked. With an elated squeal she exclaimed, "With Opal, she asked you out?"

"Theresa," he moaned and clasped his hands over his ears.

"Oh sorry," she dropped her voice to a whisper, "Yes, you should go."

"Yeah?" he looked over in inquiry, "But what about Cronus?"

"Don't let that keep you from dating. Cronus has messed up so much of our lives, don't let him take this from you too. Where's your phone?" she began searching for the logical places it would be placed, "Text her."

"She doesn't have a phone."

"What?" she asked unbelieving, "What kind of teenager doesn't have a cell?"

Herry just shrugged, "Jay's not going to let me go to school tomorrow is he?"

"I can guarantee that," Theresa said, "I'll talk to her tomorrow for you."

"I don't feel very good," he reached down a hand to place over his stomach.

"Shit," she jumped to her feet and lunged for the garbage pail at his desk. She jammed it into his lap and waited.

"No, it's gone now," he said and pulled himself onto his bed.

"Have you had any water?" Theresa asked, tossing his blanket over him.

"I have some," he reached out a hand to his bedside table sending the glass full of water tumbling to the ground, "Oops, I did have some. _Theresa_."

"I'll get you more," she sighed, leaning down for the glass to take to the bathroom tap where she could also grab a towel. When she came back he was passed out, snoring lightly. She set the glass on the night stand and quickly mopped up the puddle of water. She flicked off the lights and quietly tugged his door closed, letting out a deep breath on the other side. Thank the gods that headache was over.

* * *

Odie stood in Jay's doorway watching their leader pace circles on his blue rug. Movie in hand, Odie crossed his arms and scowled, "Jay, just come watch the movie."

"Odie," he exclaimed, tossing his flexed hands up, "Gods damn it Odie."

"What?" he asked in irritated defense. Jay just sent him a black glare and began pacing again. Odie's portal shifter was sitting there on his desk waiting to be used, but with Herry like he was it would be weeks before they could put it in use. If only he had risked it and brought it along when they fought Orthrus, this could have ended, Herry could have been fine. He growled and dropped into the seat of his desk. With a hard thwack he brought his forehead down on the edge of the stained wood and moaned.

Odie hissed and said, "Dude, you got to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down," he shot, "If only –"

"Stop with the 'if only' man, it was no one's fault," Odie cut him off, raising his voice to match Jay's, "It sucks, but it could be worse. Alright?"

Jay didn't answer. He sat hunched over his desk, arms hanging limply at his sides. Odie sighed and slipped away from the door. Holding out the movie case he shook his head, he didn't really feel like watching it either.

* * *

It was too convent of a time for Herry to miss their English class together. He could have told her no, it would have been easier to take than this. Avoiding her, really? Herry was always such a nice guy, she never thought he would pull a dick move like this. She brooded at the back of the classroom as Rice lectured, scribbling boxes and circles in an attempt to distract herself from the disappointment and pain of being let down like this. The bell for the next class couldn't come along soon enough, she just wanted out of this room.

When they were dismissed she dragged her feet through the hallway to her locker. She blinked back tears to bring the dial of her padlock into focus and entered the combo. Someone placed a hand on her wrist and she jumped, snatching her hand close to her chest with a gasp. Glancing over she found Theresa sending her a bright smile. Opal sighed and hung her shoulders, what did she want now?

"Hey," Theresa said with a cheery pipe, "I can't believe you actually did it."

"Did what?" Opal asked, the dull pounding in her head made it hard to work through her statement.

"Asked him, no offence, but I really didn't think you would."

"Oh," she looked back to her locker with sunken eyes and used the padlock to distract her attention. She wished she hadn't. It had been a huge mistake. She had ruined their blossoming friendship all for her little crush.

"He's home right now, but I he wanted me to tell you his answer," Theresa said.

"What?" she looked over her shoulder in confusion, her mind still incapable of following the conversation.

"He says yes," she said.

"What?" she said, unbelieving as she blinked at the redhead.

"To your date in the park," Theresa said, slowing her words as she spoke, "He says yes."

"Really?" Opal asked, an excited grin spreading across her face. She felt it growing there and quickly shook her head, forcing down her smile she said, "It's not a date, I just don't have anyone else to ask."

"Okay, sure," Theresa said with a knowing smile.

"Wait, where did you say he was?" she drew her brows together as she overcame the daze she had been in all morning.

"Oh, ah, he's at home," she said.

Opal bit her lip for a moment, her heart starting to quicken when she asked, "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Theresa said waving a hand in dismissal.

"Umm, what's wrong?" she asked on quiet whisper.

"He, ahh, he's just on a few pain killers right now, not really in the best shape to be going out," she said, tiptoeing around her answer.

"Pain killers?" Opal said, her eyes widening, "What did he do?"

"It was, ahh, it was a dog bite," Theresa said, "Yeah, just a dog bite."

"Oh," she said in slight surprise, "How did that happen?"

"You know, it just happened," she waved her hand through the air, a crooked smile wormed its way across the redhead's face as she changed topics, "Do you want to drop by after school and see him? Come have lunch with us, I'm sure I can convince Jay to let you visit our place for a little while."

"Really?" she asked, a small smile pulling on her lips.

"Yeah, I'll come get you right after class," she nodded and patted the smaller girl's shoulder, "catch you later."

"Sure," she nodded, biting her lip as she looked back to her locker. The day would be so much easier to get through now. She would still be distracted for all her classes, but it was much better to be distracted this way.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Herry was losing his mind. He could only watch day time television for so long, and that length was exactly one hour and seven minutes. Athena wouldn't let him so much as look outside, let alone take a walk outside. Xbox distracted him for a good sliver of the day. It would have been more if all of the button clicking didn't cause painful pricks up his arms.

He walked up and down the stairs while he thought of something else to do, he did have a big paper due at the end next week he could start on… could. He meandered his way to the kitchen and headed for the fridge. The usual force he used to tug on the door was not enough to open it but plenty for him to freeze in sharp pain. He hissed through his teeth and looked to the little orange bottle of pain pills on the table. Scrunching his nose he turned away and opened the fridge with his opposite hand.

There was nothing in the fridge he hadn't already nibbled on during the day. Maybe he should cook; it would give him something to do. Snagging the cook book his Granny had contributed to their library he flopped open a page. Pasta, sure. He began plucking ingredients out of the pantry.

He set up a pot to boil and sliced up some vegetables to throw into a frying pan. It was slow starting, he just had to watch everything for timing. He tossed the noodles in the pot and reached for his pan with the intention to flip the simmering vegetables. Herry was not accustomed to having the inability to lift things. Growling in frustration he grabbed the pan with his right hand and swirled it. Looking over his shoulder he gave the pain killers another glance. He didn't want to have to take one, they put his head in a fog he would prefer to do without.

He shook his head and leaned over the oven to look into the pot of noodles. They could probably be drained now. He grabbed the strainer from under the sink and scooped up the steaming pot. Gradually the weight was shifted to the plastic utensil from the pot. Herry gritted his teeth and growled. The discomfort straining his muscles forced him to drop the strainer in the sink. That was it; he needed to take something for the pain. In an irritated rage he whipped open the medicine cabinet at the end of the pantry. He snagged the bottle of Advil and popped off the top. He dumped out two blue pills into his palm and tossed them to the back of his throat.

"You do have prescribed pain medication," was the smug remark from the kitchen doorway.

With eyebrows smashed together Herry glared over his shoulder to Archie.

"Herry," Jay exclaimed in parental disappointment.

"What," he defended, "they make my head feel funny, Advil works good enough."

Jay shook his head, opening his mouth to scold him further but Theresa swept up beside him and cut him off. Pointing one of her long manicured fingers over to the kitchen doorway she said, "You have a visitor."

He furrowed his brows at her in confusion and followed her pointing finger. In the doorway Opal gave him a little closed mouth smile and a hesitant wave. He gave her a wave of acknowledgement and looked over to Jay in questioning bafflement. Jay just shrugged and rolled his eyes towards Theresa.

He looked back to Opal, his heart beginning to race as he said, "Sup?"

She shrugged and whispered, "Nothin'."

A silence fell between them. Theresa darted her eyes back and forth from one to the other. She huffed and said, "Seriously Herry. Opal come in and sit down."

"Sure," she said and scuttled over to the kitchen table. Quietly she took a chair at the back near the wall. From her little nestle in the corner she observed the teens silently. They joked and played, flicking yogurt and spilling juice, laughing loudly. How could anyone live here? It was so loud.

"So Opal, how long have you been playing violin?" Theresa took a seat at the table and started up a conversation. She hated talking with people she hardly knew, but at least the redhead was a good conversationalist. That seemed to be a general about all the people in this house.

"Violin I started when I was eight, but I've been playing the piano for as long as I can remember," she said.

"That's cool," she nodded, Opal started to become anxious that Theresa would stop talking, and she could never think of anything to say, it would just turn to an awkward silence. She sent an anxious to Herry fiddling around with the pots on the stovetop, but thankfully Theresa continued, "There's a piano at my dad's place, I use to play a bit with my mom when she was still alive. I never understood what the difference between the black keys and the white keys were though."

"Oh, black keys are sharps and flats," she smiled, happy they were on a topic she could talk about freely, "but it's inappropriate to call the black keys sharps and flats because E sharp and C flat are white keys."

"Ah," Theresa said leaning back in her chair. Herry joined them at the table, taking the free spot between Theresa and Opal.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, twirling a fork into his food.

"Pianos," Theresa said. Opal gave him a small smile and shrugged when he glanced over.

"How was your day?" he asked and then stuffed his loaded fork into his mouth.

"Fine," Theresa replied nonchalant, he looked over to Opal for her answer.

"Good," she nodded, "Yours?"

"Boring," he said around his mouthful.

"Attractive," Theresa elbowed him and he elbowed her back, pushing her to edge of her chair but let up before she fell. They were acting more like siblings then friends.

"Terri," Jay came into the kitchen with a set of chess under his arm, "up for a game?"

"Sure," she smiled and pulled out the chair beside her.

"You going to lose your temper when she beats your sorry ass?" Herry asked with a smirk.

"No, because she's not going to beat me," he replied, opening the case where the pieces were held.

"Just keep telling yourself that," Theresa said with a playful smile, leaning over to help him set up the game board.

There was a crash at the doorway. Opal jumped in surprise and looked over to see Atlanta being pushed into the doorframe. She retaliated by hooking her foot around Archie's ankle, shoving him to the ground.

"Hey!," he shouted, snapping out a hand to grab her ankle as she hopped over him, she joined him face first on the tiled kitchen floor with a lung crushing thud. Archie scrambled to his feet and darted to the back door of the brownstone, Atlanta quickly jolted up herself and stayed right on Archie's heal. She body checked him into the door, causing it to rattle in its frame. Snatching the doorknob she whipped it open.

Jumping outside she cheered, "I win."

"Yeah, yeah," Archie mumbled shoulders hunched as he joined her outside and jumped on his skateboard. Opal, wide eyes and mouth hanging, looked back to the three at the table, but it seemed like they didn't even flinch at the spectacle. Jay was considering his first move and Herry had his bowl tipped into his mouth, Theresa was smiling smugly, pleased with her first move.

"Is it always like this?" Opal leaned over and whispered to Herry.

A grin plastered itself on his face and he said, "Welcome to my home." The horrified look on her face only deepened and he laughed. He slipped out from the table and took his dishes over to the sink, where he just dumped them. Then he walked over to the door and motioned for her to follow, "Come on, I'll show you the best part."

"Should I be concerned?" she asked skeptically, sitting firm in her chair.

He laughed and shook his head, "Come on." She pushed her chair out and walked over to him. He led her up three flights of stairs and out onto the roof terrace.

She whistled as she stepped out, taking in the view of the city, a perfect line of sight to a nearby park, "Impressive."

"Yeah, I usually go for a drive when it gets too loud inside, but this is cool too," he padded over to the patio set and pulled out a lawn chair tucked under a glass topped table.

"So, how are you feeling?" she asked as she joined him under the massive blue umbrella, "What happened?"

"Pretty good, it was, ah, a bite," he held his left hand out in front of him, clenching and unclenching his fist for a moment. He continued the simple exercise for a while longer while he ran the fingers of his right hand from his wrist to the crook of his elbow, pressing on the tendons there. The bandages on his arms were only two bands of gauze covering the rows of teeth marks, one just under his wrist and the other over his forearm below his elbow. Opal watched his muscles shift under his skin as he flexed and relaxed.

"Does that hurt?" she asked.

"A little," he said, and then sent her a warm smile, "but whatever, it'll be fine. Why, you worried about me?"

She blushed and glanced to the tiles as she said quietly, "That's why I came over."

His smile grew as he blushed and looked away. It really wasn't quite the same when she wasn't part of his day. She bit her lip and looked away to a bird feeder hung from the awning over the door to the house, using the birds there as an excuse to keep her flushed face turned away from him.

"That's an evening grosbeak," she said in attempt to change the conversation.

"Cool," he looked over and humored her, but then he pulled the conversation back around, "So, did Theresa give you my message?"

She smiled and nodded, "Yeah, but are you sure? I mean I totally understand if you don't feel up to it."

"It's still a week away," he said as he shrugged, he began chewing on his lip for a second before he asked, "What are we going as?"

Her cheeks began to burn and she stammered out an answer, eyes still on the feeder, "Friends."

"Kay," he nodded and followed her gaze to the bird feeder. She glanced over to watch his face, but he was keeping a neutral expression. He pointed at the bird feeder and asked, "What's that one?"

"A purple finch," she said slowly, "or maybe a house finch… I'm not sure."

He looked over to her with a barely suppressed smile and shook his head in disappointment.

"What?" she shot, "I know it's a finch."

His smile broke free from its containment and he said, "And I thought you were a birder."

"If it sings I can tell you what it is," she said with a smirk.

"Ah," he laughed lightly, "of course, why didn't I see that coming?" She shrugged and sucked her lip between her teeth. It was weird to have someone know her like he did. She had only been the quiet blonde girl to her peers.

"So, It was nice to see you're feeling okay," she said and got to her feet.

"You're leaving already?" he did his best to keep the disappointment from his voice.

She bit the inside of her cheeks to keep down the smile, butterflies beginning to flutter in her stomach, "My dad doesn't know I came over, I should get home."

"I'd offer you a ride, but Jay hid my keys," he said.

"He hid your keys?" she sent him a baffled look.

"I'm supposed to take it easy," he propped up the elbow of his left arm on the armrest of his chair and rotated his wrist, contempt rubbing through on his voice as he said, "Jay took that as house arrest."

"Aw, muffin," she taunted and laughed at his dismay. Playing it up, he pouted and crossed his arms over his chest like a defiant child. Opal giggled and, despite himself, he smiled. Before she started to the door she asked, "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Hopefully," he replied and sent her a warm smile, getting to his feet so he could walk her back downstairs. His spirits dropped as they walked. Her short visit had by far been the best part of his day.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

The best part of this music festival was how happy it made Opal. Herry never realized she had so many teeth. She had so much passion on the subject, passion she spewed onto him through elated lectures just about as technical as any of Odie's, for which his comprehension was tied between the two. He didn't care. She could talk to him about instruments for hours, so long as he could hear that excitement in her voice.

The main attraction of the festival was a competition. Up on a stage instrument names were drawn from a hat and any member of the audience could perform for the honor of championship. Opal narrated everything to him, notes that were flat, sharp or missed, sections she found particularly spectacular, and she did it for every instrument. He didn't understand how her mind worked. To him it was all just noise, but she heard every note as simple as he heard syllables in words.

The announcer confirmed the flute champion when no one took him up on his offers to the audience for a challenge. That was the signal for the hat to draw the next instrument, violin. There was a flurry of bows that shot up into the air and the announcer chose a woman closest to the stage. He asked her name and then gave her the floor. When she finished a lanky teen was quick to challenge. He beat her by a smidge and held his place for one round. The man that replaced him was stocky and plump round the middle. He held the top place for four more rounds, as dictated by the cheers from the crowd.

"Anyone else want to challenge?" it was the second time the announcer asked the crowd and it appeared like the violin completion was over.

But then, "She does." Opal sent Herry a horrified expression.

"No she doesn't," she whispered back to him, tugging down hard on his shirt clutched in her fist.

The whole crowd was staring at them now. Herry placed his hand on the small of Opal's back and gave her a light nudge forward.

"I don't have my violin," she said, and three were tossed in her face. She hunched her shoulder, sent Herry a glare and took the instrument closest. She climbed up on the platform and introduced herself. Herry wasn't worried about her; she would do magnificently even if she was caught off guard. He recognized the song she started to play, he knew it was a classical song, but had no idea what its title was. The audience turned completely silent, the constant bubble of whispered conversation disappeared. They were completely captivated. When she finished the crowd erupted, clear who they considered the better performer.

"My dear, that was the best performance of Beethoven's pastoral symphony on the violin I have heard in a long while," the announcer told her and she smiled modestly, she was so cute when she smiled like that, the announcer turned back to the crowd and said, "Is there anyone out there crazy enough to take this girl on?"

Silence.

"Congratulations," he told her and she nodded a thanks as she shook his hand. Hopping off the stage she returned the violin to its owner and wove her way back to Herry.

"I can't believe you just made me do that," she whispered, walking away from the excitement as she shook out her hands at her side, keeping her eyes downcast on the grass.

"What, I couldn't let you deprive those people of good music," he jibed, "I'd knew you'd win."

"How did you know?" she asked, taking in a deep breath to hold for a count of three

_Because you're a descendent of Orpheus_. He smirked and said, "I just knew." He padded along beside her as she paced, settling her nerves, "You doing all right over there?"

"I can't believe you made me do that," she repeated.

"You were great," he said, "I'm sure that was far from the first time you've preformed in front of people."

"Yeah but usually I have weeks to practice," she said, tossing out her arms as she looked up to him in exasperation. He bit back his smile as she resumed her pacing. They walked to a quieter section of the park, free of celebration, where Opal dropped down on a bench in front of a pond. She spread her hands out on her knees and let out a slow breath.

"Okay," she said, back straight as a board, "I think I'm good now."

"Oh yeah, you look completely relaxed," he smiled, sitting beside her on the bench. He leaned his arm over the back of the wooden bench and crossed one leg on the seat, sitting to face her. She let out another breath and slouched down on the backrest. He studied her as she watched the pond. He always kind of liked how she never seemed to care what she looked like. She let her hair do whatever it pleased, as far as he could tell she never covered her face with products. He liked her round face how it was, there was no need to paint it.

She reached up a hand to shove her bangs from her eyes and looked over to ask, "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah," he smiled and reached out a hand to ruffle her hair. His heart began to pound in his chest constricting with nerves, sweat started to bead on his brow as he hunted down and trapped the courage to say on a wisp of a breath, "It's hard not to when I'm with you."

Opal's cheeks flashed red and she quickly looked back to the water, watching the ripples on the pond she asked in a clear attempt to change the conversation, "Is your arm feeling better."

"Yeah, it's so great to finally get out of the house," he said, babbling as he ran with the escape, "You should have heard Jay this morning, if it wasn't for Theresa I'm pretty sure you would have been stood up today."

"Jay sounds like he worry's a lot," she said, sparing him a quick glance.

"Yeah," Herry said with a half hearted smile and looked out to the water. His heart froze when he felt the ginger brush of fingers over his bandaged forearm, soft and gentle. He didn't acknowledge Opal's touches, afraid she would stop if he looked over. He liked the little electric pulses her fingertips were creating on his skin, the way she was so easily making his pulse race.

"Is there stitches?" she said, letting her hand rest fully on his wrist.

"Do you want to see?" he finally looked down at her, a smirk on his face.

Her nose crinkled in disgust and she shook her head.

"I get them out soon," he told her, "I can't wait, they're so itchy it's driving me crazy."

"Yeah?" she asked, "Is it normal for stitches to be itchy?"

He was concentrating on her hand on his arm, deaf to her question. She cleared her throat and he snapped his eyed up from her nails, manicured as short as his own. He shook his head and said, "What? Stitches, yeah all the ones I've had before have been itchy."

"Hmm," she said as she turned back to look at the water, placing her hand back in her lap, "I've never had stitches,"

"I can tell," he said with a smile, reaching his hand over to rub his wrist, suddenly cold with the absence of her warm palm.

"And I've never broken anything," she said with a childish innocence.

"Or had a concussion," he added with a light laugh.

"Or that," she returned his laugh.

"What about a bruise, have you ever had one of those?"

"A bruise?" she asked, glancing up at him through narrowed eyes, "What is this you speak of?"

He laughed and she smiled, covering the giggle that followed with her hand. Everything she did reminded him of a little mouse, something adorable and precious he couldn't help but feel like protecting, like he could make her his to protect. He scrunched up his nose and looked to the pond. Every time the idea of her being his crossed his thoughts Cronus popped up his damn head in his mind, he just couldn't risk him finding out about her.

There was a flock of ducks paddling through the weeds on the far side of the pond. He watched them poke their heads under the water and cruse around on the surface. A panic arose in the birds from a stone being tossed in the middle of their group, honking as they splashed the water with their wings. Glancing up to the banks Herry spotted Archie and not Atlanta. What? He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at the couple to get a better look. Yeah, that was definitely Archie, but the woman with the long hair and sharp features was not Atlanta.

"What are you looking at?" Opal asked.

He pulled out of his mind and looked back over to her, "Nothing, I just thought I saw someone."

She nodded in acceptance and looked back to the water.

He would definitely be speaking to Archie about this later, but for now it was probably best if he didn't run into his friend and his mystery date. He cleared his throat and said, "Are you hungry?"

"Sure," she peeked over at him through her hair.

"Why don't we go somewhere," he got to his feet and offered her his hand. She slipped hers in his with a slow, delicate motion. When she was on her feet he motioned to let go, but she gripped his hand tighter. Ice formed in his stomach and his heart started pounding in his ears again, it took him a moment to find his voice to ask, "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, yeah," she blinked up from their interlocked hands and quickly retreated hers, "Sorry."

"No worries," he said and set the pace of their stroll back to his truck. She was quiet as they walked, it wasn't necessarily out of her character to be quiet, but today she had been rather chatty. He let it slide for now, he was happy enough just walking beside her. He sucked in a deep breath of warm afternoon air, so much better than brownstone air he had been stuck with for the last while. It was beautiful outside and he was with an adorable girl, this day could hardly get more perfect.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Stitches freshly removed Herry ran to Hercules' office to make up for some seriously missed work out sessions. Having to abandon his intricately detailed exercise schedule had been frustrating. There was hours of extra time he would have been using to be productive that he just had to sit around for instead. He was starting to go stir crazy. The pain in his arm was minimal, defiantly not enough to detour him from a long overdue work out. He was excited to get back to his regular life, to feel rejuvenated from working his body rather than feeling lethargic from never leaving home.

"Hey Herc," Herry said, letting himself in. He scooped up a punching bag and hooked it from one of the support beams. He turned to the hero, who was lounging in his recliner with a glass of wine in his hand. Making fists and standing wide Herry prompted, "Come on Hercules."

"Herry, sit down for a second," he waved off his prodigy and laughed at the television in front of him. Herry hunched his shoulders and scuffled over to see what he was watching, he groaned when he discovered it was a soap opera.

"Come on," Herry whined. The god didn't budge. He glared at Hercules and with an irritated huff he started on his own. He boxed with his right fist first and then, when he felt up to it, hooked his left into the bag. There was a small jolt of pain, but it wasn't too bad, he could keep going. He drew his left fist back and drove it forward with all his strength. The punching bag ripped from its chains, and flew to the other side of the room where it crashed into the wall. Herry let out a satisfied whoop, oh yeah, he was back.

"Herry," Hercules scolded with slight irritation.

"Then come be my spotter," he said to the hero, hooking up another punching bag. Hercules grumbled and kicked down the footrest of his chair, flicked off the television and lumbered over. This was good, feeling the surge of strength through his back, up his shoulder and down his arm with every blow he landed. He laughed shallowly on his short breath and took a step back, bending over to rest his hands on his knees.

"So much better," he said, arching his back as he stretched.

"You're arm's going to be stiff in the morning," Hercules pointed out, he was right. Herry could feel his pulse throbbing through his half healed muscles. Maybe he'd work his legs a bit in the training arena before he headed home.

"Meh," Herry shrugged, "I'll be here tomorrow, rain or shine."

"I don't doubt that," Hercules smirked.

"Catch you later," Herry said and waved on his way out the door. Walking into the brownstone with a happy whistle he greeted his friends at the kitchen table cheerily, Archie and Atlanta the only ones absent.

"What took you so long, I thought you were just getting your stitches out," Jay said.

"Worked out for a bit," he said as he opened the fridge, leaning down to peer inside.

"Don't you think it's a little soon still?"

"No," his voice came from somewhere inside the fridge.

Jay sent him a glare through narrowed eyes. Atlanta stormed into the kitchen, saving Herry a lecture from Jay, footsteps pounding into the tiles. She sent each one of her friends sitting at the table an individualized glare and then began pacing, an angry rampage equivalent to a rhinoceros. Theresa rose from her chair with the intention to calm down her friend, but Jay latched onto her wrist. With a look of shier terror he shook his head and mouthed, 'don't do it.'

"Oh, come on Jay," she shook him off in irritation and walked over to Atlanta, holding her shoulders Theresa asked, "What's wrong?"

Atlanta narrowed her eyes, her face contorting in a sneer. Odie, Herry, Jay and Neil exchanged concerned glances, this may be the last time they see Theresa with her head still attached to her body. Atlanta just might knock it clear off her shoulders and start kicking it around the kitchen like a soccer ball.

"Atlanta, just take a deep breath and talk to me," she prompted, gathering up her hands to squeeze.

The fiery redhead sucked in a sharp breath through her nose and held it for a brief moment, anger still boiling through her she opened her mouth and screamed, "Archie."

Theresa let go of her friend's hands to wipe the spittle off of her face and said, "What about him?"

"He's in the living room with that, that, _woman_, and their watching a chick flick," she tossed up her hands, fingers flexed into claws, "A chick flick. Archie doesn't watch chick flicks, that bitch is sucking out his soul."

"Atlanta, I think that's a little dramatic," Theresa grumbled.

"What? Archie's with another girl?" Odie asked.

"What's that suppose to mean Odie," Atlanta rushed over to toss a finger in his face, "It's not like he was with another girl before."

"Right, then why are you so upset?" he said.

She flushed red all the way up to her hairline, clenching her jaw so tight the muscles there jumped.

"Okay," Theresa placed her hands on Atlanta's shoulders and guided her out of the kitchen before she could breathe fire all over Odie. They went to the hallway between the kitchen and the living room to get a look at this woman Archie was with.

"Emma," Atlanta growled as she watched the blonde tucked up under Archie's arm. They giggled and rubbed their noses together, Atlanta growled once again.

"That is pretty weird," Theresa said.

"It's unnatural," Atlanta corrected.

"Atlanta," Theresa tugged her friend away from the doorway of the living room and over to the stares, "Did you ever think that maybe Archie just got tired of waiting for you?"

"What?" she shot, balling her fists at her sides, "Waiting for what, there's nothing between us."

"Exactly," Theresa sighed.

Atlanta's face contorted with a sour glare, turning she stomped up the stairs. Theresa sighed and placed her head in her hand as she turned back to the living room. She wasn't too fond of this woman either. No one should be able to persuade Archie to watch a movie that didn't have at least one explosion.

"I saw Archie with that chick in the park the other day," Herry said around a full mouth of sandwich, he swallowed and asked Theresa, "So, like is he doing her or something?"

"I don't know," Theresa shrugged and let out a sigh, "I kind of agree with Atlanta though, she doesn't seem like the right match for him."

"Yeah," Herry said peeking into the living room as he took another bite, "She must have him brainwashed to be watching a movie like that."

"Hey why don't you talk to him," Theresa announced on a hushed whisper.

"Me? Why, about what?" he leaned down to whisper back.

"Yeah you, he'll listen to one of his guy friends better than me," She said, "Tell him he's making a horrible mistake."

"Theresa, I can't tell him that."

"Even if it's true?"

"Theresa, sometimes you have to just let things be," he said, "You know as well the neighbors at the end of the street that Atlanta and Archie are meant to be together, it will all work out in the end."

"Whatever," she told him with a sneer, slipping past him and into the doorway of the living room, "Archie, can I have a word with you?"

"Can't it wait?" he shot back with irritation.

"No," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and jutting out her hip.

"Fine," he growled and looked back to Emma to say with a voice drizzled in honey, "I'll be right back." He stormed over to the door and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" she asked him in a harsh whisper, dragging him out into the hallway.

"Watching a movie," he scoffed, "What's it look like."

"What are you doing with that girl?" she clarified, "Archie, she's not the right girl for you. Did you just hear yourself? Have you seen Atlanta lately?"

"Atlanta," he said, anger etching into his face, "Atlanta missed her chance and trust me I've given her plenty. Emma helped me realize that, she likes me, she might be the perfect one for me."

"What?" Theresa said, her lip twitching. She glanced to Herry, his face frozen mid chew confirmed her own shock was justified. Archie gave a solid nod and turned back to the living room. That didn't sound like Archie in the slightest. She stepped back to peak into the room, startling when she found Emma starting at her with her narrowed brown eyes, her glare piercing over her sharp cheekbones. Theresa was on Atlanta's side, she didn't trust this girl.

* * *

Jay could finally start talking about his plans for Odie's portal shifter now that Herry had recovered. His plan was to wait until Cronus attacked with some kind of monster as he was quite accustom to doing. Cronus wouldn't suspect them to lay a trap for him in a fight that he started. Odie could activate it when they first arrived and when they defeated the monster Cronus would attempt to escape though his portal. It was brilliant and the timing was spot on. Just a couple more mounts till the New Year, Cronus was sure to attack by then. Jay was jumping with anticipation as he waited for the thoughts from his group gathered around him in the living room.

"Jay, this might just be it," Theresa said.

"I know," he squealed like little girl. Talking in a deep breath he held out his hands and closed his eyes, evenly he said, "But we can't get to excited, we don't know it will work until it has."

"Now we just wait," Odie said, interlocking his fingers behind his head as he leaned back on the couch.

"No, no," Jay shot up a finger to wiggle back in forth in the air, "We have to train, make sure we're the best we can be when the time does come. I've come up with a new training schedule for all of us. You can find them in your e-mails."

There was a collective groan form Jay's team.

"What?" he asked in utter confusion, "We want to be ready."

"Jay," Theresa shook her head and got to her feet, everyone was quick to follow her lead as she left the room.

"At least this might be the last time Jay's going to bust our asses," Neil said as he started up the stairs for his room.

Herry gave a deep laugh and said, "We can only hope Neil."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Opal was amazed with what one person could do. She actually looked forward to heading to school in the morning so she could start her day with Herry's smile. She liked talking to him. It became so easy to talk to him. What had she been doing all her life? School became infinitely more enjoyable when there was someone there to laugh with.

They didn't do anything again outside of school, and there was absolutely no way she would ask him on an actual date. That was the boy's job. She thought he was about to one day, at their lockers in the afternoon. He was going on about the beach and how promising the weather for the weekend looked, but then out of nowhere he got quiet, like he had someone whispering in his ear that made him reconsider.

That was okay though, Opal decided not to get too excited over the encounter and decided not to expect him ask her out anytime soon. She was happy with what they had going on, she never had someone to talk to like this at school and she began to realize how much of a mistake it was to isolate herself. He finally got that lunch with her.

Herry desperately wanted to ask her out, he was loosing sleep over it, but every time he summoned enough courage Cronus flashed his smug smile in his vision. He just couldn't expose her to that danger, he just needed to wait a little longer and then the God of Time would be back in Tartarus. Then, and only then, he could ask her out without worry. It didn't help that Theresa was always on his back about the matter, she had an arsenal of good arguments, for some blissful moments they outweighed his Cronus argument.

Laying awake in his bed while his alarm clock ticked closer to morning Herry had planned several different dates in his mind. They were always spinning around in his head. It started off with the average ideas, dinner and a movie, but the earlier the red numbers on his clock grew the more creative he became. One evening he even got as far to start pulling out his rock climbing equipment from his closet, spreading it around the floor to organize. Theresa and Neil came in with intention to launch another intervention on him. He decided this time he'd beat them to the punch, "Do you think I could take her climbing."

"No," They both exclaimed in horror.

"What, why?" he asked in complete bafflement.

"Herry," Theresa said gently, hopping over all the ropes and carabiners to kneel in front of him, placing her hands on his wrists she said, "You won't get a second date if you take her rock climbing."

"Dude, she's not the athletic type," Neil said.

"I donno," he mumbled to himself, "I think she'd be happy doing anything."

"That's not to say she wouldn't go climbing with you, actually I bet she would for like the tenth date once she trusts you," Theresa said, "If you want adventurous take her on a hike up a mountain."

"Yeah," Neil said, "It's still active, but easy enough anyone could do it."

"So," Theresa prompted with a beaming smile, "You going to do it? You going to ask her?"

"Ah," he wanted to say yes, he really did, but Cronus' gods damn smug face flashed on the inside of his eyelids. With a groan he shook his head and shrugged.

"Dammit Herry, you're impossible," Theresa huffed, getting to her feet to cross her arms over her chest. If he kept refusing she would have to take measures into her own hands.

* * *

Atlanta tromped down the stairs behind Archie and his new girl with arms crossed over her chest a sneer on her face. With a sour voice she said, "Why don't you take your shoes off Emma."

"I'm just more comfortable with them on," she spared a quick glance at Atlanta from over her shoulder.

"Atlanta, knock it off," Archie hissed, leading Emma into his room and slammed the door in the redhead's face. He took the blonde's hand and said to her, "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay," she flashed him a brilliant smile and tugged him over to the bed, "She's just jealous of what we have." He returned her smile and lied down on his bed when she pushed on his shoulder. She climbed on top of him and claimed his lips as her own. There was something intoxicating about her kiss, he didn't ever want to pull away. He slipped his hands under her shirt to feel her smooth skin under his fingertips. A sigh puffed from his lungs when she shifted her kisses to his neck. He leaned his head away to allow her better access.

"Archie?" she whispered, the humming of her lips against the skin on his neck a welcome sensation.

"Yes?" he responded.

"I heard something interesting about you," she told him.

"What's that?" he asked with a content smile on his lips.

"I didn't believe it at first," she said, "but now I am certain, I can smell it in your blood. It's been so long since I've had a hero's blood."

"What?" his eyes snapped open, tendrils of panic tickled his muscles.

A burning erupted from under her lips. The sudden pain jolted through him, he jerked his body in the surprise. He didn't understand where the pain was coming from, what would be causing it at such a moment. Archie let out a strangled yelp and out of instinct he tried to push away to assess the situation. Emma pinned him to the bed and hissed in his face, her eyes flicked with fire. Her hair became a white and gold blaze, curls transforming into flames, licking into the air. He could smell the burning and a glance to his shoulder confirmed its source. Beside the charred collar of his sweater was the bubbling of blisters on bright red skin.

"What are you?" he pushed against her, all of his muscles constricting in conjunction to his accelerated pulse.

"I'm Empusa," she told him with the sweet smile she had been flashing him for weeks. She held him firmly in place as easily as if he's been a kitten squirming underneath her. Leaning forward again she lapped up the blood oozing from his dark burn. Her body quivered on top of him as she let out a relived sigh, like she had just had a cool drink of water after a long day of work in the sun. Archie started to scream, but she clamped a hand down over his mouth. In desperation he clawed at her wrist and yanked on her fingers, but nothing detoured the rough lapping of her sandpaper tongue on his burn.

There was a crash. All of a sudden the demon on top of Archie had vanished. He lay on his back gasping in surprise and pain. Managing to prop himself up on his elbows he found Atlanta glaring at the monster on the ground with her wrist mounted crossbow at the ready. Empusa hissed at the redhead standing over her. She tore off her boots and her pants. Under was one leg completely fashioned of bronze, the other had a hoof rather than a foot. She sprung off her mismatched legs and lunched for Atlanta with her nails curled into claws, the hot swoosh of flames accompanied her movements.

"I don't think so bitch, that is my man," she fired a bolt into her chest sending her crashing back to the ground at the foot of Archie's bed. The monster wreathed on the wooden floor, joints popping and twisting as she staggered to her feet. Hands flexed to optimize the exposure of her claws Empusa launched herself for Atlanta. Archie struggled to jam his hand into his pocket for his whip.

"Atlanta," he wheezed and tossed over the weapon. She snatched it from the air and unleashed the whip to tangle around Empusa, ripping her nails away from her throat just as she felt their sharp tickle. The demon screeched and struggled against the bonds, her screams causing a pitched ring in Atlanta's ears. Empusa thrust herself into the hall with her arms bound against her side, dragging Atlanta with her.

"Aghh, what is that hideous thing?" Neil tripped over his feet and backed himself up against the hallway wall with a thud. His eyes wide in surprise he yelled, "Hold it still Atlanta."

"I'm trying," she shot through clenched teeth, digging down her heals to keep the monster in place.

"What is it doing here?" he demanded, scuffling further away down the hall, using uncoordinated hands to help guide his way on the wall.

"Do you know who I am?" she hissed at the blonde, flames licked up from her mouth.

"I don't want to," Neil stated, his face contorting in disgust.

"She said she was Empusa," Archie said with a rigid voice, leaning against the wall just outside his doorframe, one hand holding the arm of his burned shoulder to his side like a vice.

"Empusa," Neil's face lit with sudden realization, sparking with excitement, "You're like a vampire. I know how to deal with vampires."

"Not a vampire," she yelled through clenched teeth, the flames escaping her mouth reaching all the way up her face. She surged forward, causing Atlanta to stumble forward a footstep.

"Ahh," he screeched and scrambled for the stairs, tucking himself around the corner.

"Why are you here?" Atlanta asked, yanking back on the whip.

"Cronus wanted me to find out where you lived, but I couldn't do that before I finished having my fun with you," she told them, "It's been eons since I've had hero's blood."

"Cronus," Atlanta said with a sneer and looked to Neil, "I'll take her upstairs, we need to get her to Hera's prison under the school. You go find Athena."

"Damn right we need to get her out of here," he nodded and turned to fulfill his task. The goddess was quick to transport them to the school. She instructed Atlanta to take Archie to Chiron and took Empusa to Hera. Atlanta walked along with Archie, pressing her hand into the small of his back.

"I'm sorry Atlanta," he said through gritted teeth as he walked on scuffling feet, "I don't know what was wrong with me."

"Don't worry about it," she told him, "Don't talk right now, save your strength."

"You know you're the only one for me Atlanta," he told her.

She flushed red and her hand stiffed on his back, but she owed it to him to say, "I know." She wished she had the courage to add, '_There's no one for me other than you.'_

"I'll wait for as long as you need," he said as they entered Chiron's office. She bit her lip as he was whisked away to the centaur's medical table. She stood in the doorway while Chiron smothered a burn ointment on Archie's neck and shoulder. She came over after he had dressed his wound. Sitting beside him on the bench she took his hand and squeezed. She wasn't good with words in situations like this, she could think of nothing meaningful to say, but Archie seemed more than satisfied with her holding his hand. He sent her a warm smile and squeezed back.

* * *

Theresa had snuck up on Opal several times in the past. She was starting to get more use to it. After all Theresa was one of Herry's friends. She looked up to the redhead expectantly, the only time she ever came over to bother her when she wanted to say something. Herry's face turned to horror the second he realized she wasn't there to talk to him.

"So you're going to hike Mt. Rustan? Cute date idea huh?" she said.

"What?" Opal asked in confusion, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Oops," she covered her mouth with her hands and looked to Herry, "You haven't asked yet?"

"Theresa," he muttered warningly under his breath.

"You were going to ask me out?" Opal asked him with eyes that would be better suited on a puppy. He smashed the palms of his hands into his eyes and groaned, how could he say no to that?

"Would you want to hike a mountain with me?" he asked.

"Yes," a broad smile stamped itself on her face. The expression made her beam and the way Herry's stomach started fluttering made him feel like he had accidently swallowed a small bird. It only took a moment, not nearly long enough moment for her to realize its presence on her face. She bit down on her lip to subdue her grin. A smile of his own had wormed its way across Herry's face without his knowledge.

"You're welcome," Theresa whispered to him as she brushed her way back down the hall from where she had come.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Water, she couldn't believe she didn't think to bring water. It was the most obvious supply to bring on a hike. Herry had offered Opal a drink from his nalgene a good five times, each time she politely refused. This time when he held out the blue canister she downed a quarter of it. Leaning over she pressed a hand into a cramp in her side as she panted.

"Are you doing alright, we can take a break," he said, taking his water canister back from her extended hand.

"No," she shot out a finger and straightened, falling into step again, "I can do this."

"Okay," he said as he fell into step behind her, a crooked smile pulling at the corner of his lip. He liked her determination, so what if she wasn't quite as athletic as he imagined the perfect woman for him to be, with an attitude like that there was no reason he couldn't convert her.

Her attempt to dress for the outing was adorable. It was dangerous to look too long at her butt in those tight yoga pants. Hair he'd only seen left down was pulled into a crude pony tail, but a bunny tail would have been a more accurate description. They rounded an outcrop and came to the hardest part of the climb. Opal hunched her shoulders and groaned. The path turned into a staircase of rocks a giant would have problems climbing.

"Alright, it's cool," she shook out her hands and placed them on the first rock, coming to her navel. She tossed her leg over the lip of the stone and rolled up and onto her back. Herry chuckled and watched her do it again for the next few rocks. He hopped up behind her and on the last step placed his hands on her hips to lift her up. She gasped in surprise and reached down to dig her short fingernails into his wrists. Wide eyed she turned to face him as he climbed up beside her.

With a valid excuse to touch her, most importantly her ass, he turned her around to brush the dirt and crumpled leaves off the back of her t-shirt and pants, "You're not really suppose to roll up those."

"It worked," she said, brushing off her front.

"I guess it did," he admitted. With a giddy smile he waved his hand as he hopped down the path, "Come on we're almost at the top."

"Good," she said, continuing to walk along the exposed rock of the mountain the trail had morphed into. It was much more flat now, and the trail was wide enough for her to walk beside her date. She started humming as they walked, now that she had the breath to spare. He glanced down at her with his smile that had refused to leave his face since the moment he picked her up an hour prior. She was bouncing along beside him, watching where she placed her dainty little feet. He looked back to his own footing. The rocks on the path poked up and dove down in a jagged surface perfect to trip stray feet, it was unwise to look away for long.

Herry felt a poke on the side of his hand, assuming it was a biting insect he formed his hand into a fist and brushed the side of it against his pants. It was a few seconds before he felt another touch, this time in his palm, but it was too big to be an insect. Herry's heart leapt into his throat when he realized what it was. Opal had slipped her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. The butterflies in his stomach erupted. He looked over to find her sending him a modest smile, glancing up at him through her eyelashes.

"Is this okay?" she asked, squeezing his hand.

"Yeah," he said on a shallow breath. She nodded; her smile growing as she looked back to the path.

The trail ended at the base of a wooden staircase bolted into the mountain rocks. The steps wrapped around the side of a cliff, Opal gripped his hand tighter when she looked over the railing. A shear drop ended in a pile of boulders six stories below.

"Neat huh?" he asked her.

"Sure, you could call it that," she muttered and he smirked. The staircase led them to the top of the mountain, a flat top about the size of a modest front yard of a suburban home, a railing placed all the way around. The plants growing in the cracks of the rocks were stunted and gnarled. The few trees came to waist height at best. With tiny steps Opal led him over to the edge of the railing. The view was spectacular. The late afternoon sun made the ocean sparkle. From this height the city buildings looked like a child's play set. The magnificent costal forest spread out all around, the redwoods creating a rolling sea of green.

"Wow, I can't believe I've never been here before," Opal said. Herry smiled and sat on the rock, tugging her down with him. She followed his lead and let her head rest against his arm after a moment of nervous hesitation. They admired the view together for a moment longer, hands still clasped on their touching knees. He looked up to the blue sky, dabbed with wispy clouds and let the sound of the gusty winds sweeping around the mountains compose their conversation.

"Thanks Herry," she said, leaning against him further.

"For what?" he asked, sending her down a curious gaze.

"For this evening," she picked her head up to meet his eyes, answering him in light hearted cheer, "This is perfect."

Guilt silenced the flock fluttering in his stomach. He looked back to the ocean, every one of his muscles feeling rock heavy. This had not been his doing. He hadn't even wanted this day to happen just yet, when Cronus was still out there. He felt her shift uncomfortably beside him, felt the burning of her stare fall off his face.

With an obvious attempt to change the conversation she ran her fingers over the red marks on his forearm that were sure to leave scars, "I was bitten by a dig once."

"Really?" he snapped his eyes back to her, his curiosity outweighing his guilt.

"Um-hum, when I was little, on my ankle," she said, "It didn't need stitches though, my dad patched it up."

"He didn't rush you to emerge?" he said, a joking tone to his voice.

She laughed, a sound that made the sun shine a little brighter. She flashed her brilliant blue eyes up to him as she spoke, "No, but he did rush the dog straight to the vet to check its shot records."

"I would not want to be the owner of that dog," he said.

"Why?"

"Because I don't ever want to see your father angry," he said and Opal flushed, "and I'm sure he was then."

She looked out at the view and brushed bangs against the side of her face in an effort to hide it from him.

"John's terrifying," he stated.

She chocked back a laugh and flashed her eyes to him for a quick moment, "Why? Compared to you he's small."

"It's not about how big he is," he paused and waited till she glanced up at him in expectation, "It's because he's your dad. Don't get me wrong, I love your dad, he's hilarious, but to someone that's falling for his daughter, he's terrifying."

Her face burned red all the way up to her hairline. She untangled her fingers form his and scotched a breath away. He followed her, pressing his knee against hers again.

"Opal," he said, his voice hardly loud enough to be heard over the gust of wind coming from the ocean, making the stray curls on her head dance.

Her face still bright red, she looked to him.

"I really like being with you," he leaned down to whisper closer to her ear.

"Me too," her voice was only a mumble, he couldn't hear the words but he could see them on her lips. His breathing hitched and his nerves began to jump looking at her slightly parted lips, full and pink, begging him to kiss them. Hesitantly he reached out his hand and gently cupped her cheek in his palm, chilled by the wind. She didn't scream or squirm away, so slowly he leaned his head down to place his lips against hers. His kiss was barely a brush. He couldn't hold it any longer than a second in fear of going into cardiac arrest.

He pulled away and took back his hand, looking down to her in paralyzing curiosity. She watched him silently, her eyes locked onto his and her breath coming in shallow gasps. When she didn't offer him any feedback he got to his feet and rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, his cheeks warm. He hummed as he tried to think of something to say, but couldn't find any words. Panic began to pound through his veins. Had that been a wrong move? He offered down his hand to help her to her feet and instantly went to let go once she was. Only she didn't let him take his hand back.

He watched her bite her lip as she looked away to the ground, anxiety gripping his lungs. If she took any more time his heart was going to burst from his chest. After a painfully long moment, sure to be shorter than he imagined it, she reached up her free hand to place on his shoulder, at the base of his neck. The touch sent a jolt of electricity through him, radiating across his entire body. She rose up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on the bone of his lower jaw; it was as high as she could reach. She dropped back down to flat feet leaving his skin tingling. She gave him a sweet smile, cheeks flushed. A dopey grin wormed its way across his face, he wanted to spin her around, dance, holler off this mountain top… he wanted to vomit.

"Umm," she cleared her throat and asked, "What does this mean?" His guilt rushed right back to punch him in the gut. What was he doing? He couldn't do this, not now. Cronus was too much of a threat to let him start a relationship. He shouldn't have kissed her. It was a stupid mistake to lead her on.

He closed his eyes and sighed, "Before we talk about this I need to tell you something."

"Mmm?" she prompted.

"I wasn't going to ask you out," he bit the inside of his lip and looked out to the ocean, "Theresa kind of set that all up."

"What?" she asked, her voice small. She dropped his hand, but she might have well just tossed her fist in his stomach.

"It's not that I didn't want to," he looked back to her, "I just… my life is really complicated right now and I don't want to pull you into it all."

She blinked at him in confusion and shook her head, "I don't understand."

"I just don't want my problems to become yours."

She bit her lip and nodded, looking up to him with hopeful eyes she asked, "I'm sure it's not that bad, everyone comes with a little bit of drama right?" He swallowed down his bitter laugh and shook his head.

"Opal, I really like you," he said, a desperate plea working its way through on his voice. With a frustrated sigh he continued, "I can't be in a relationship right now, but soon I hope I'll have my problems figured out."

She nodded, the comprehension on her face was not entirely there, but she reached for his hand again and said, "I can wait."

"Yeah?" he asked a crooked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"You're worth it," she said with a smile. She shook off his firm grip on her hand, she wasn't sure if he had realized or not, but his squeezing had kept getting tighter as they talked. She saw the pang of disappointment register on his face before she tossed herself against his chest, wrapping her arms around his middle for a strong hug.

It took his brain a moment to work out exactly what had happened. When it did he relaxed into her embrace, happily returning it as he let out a relived laugh, loud and deep. He couldn't believe the woman standing in front of him, she was so understanding without knowing anything at all. He matched her force and squeezed her firmly.

He didn't know what she saw in him to make her decide to wait. He was sure there were plenty of other guys that would love to have her, guys that were much more charming and confident than he was. Why she wanted to hold off for him he would never know, but words couldn't describe how happy he was that she did.

He could have stayed like that all evening, but before their hug extended for too long he opened his eyes with the intent to pull away. He was met with blood red eyes and a crooked grin smiling at him. Herry tensed, his muscles going rigid as his heart pumped adrenalin through his body.

"Herry?" Opal pushed away to look up to his face, worry on her voice from the sudden change in his mannerism. All he could do before Cronus held the tip of his scythe to his forehead was smash his finger into the panic button on his PMR tucked away in his pocket. A beam of orange light struck him and his world went black.

Opal watched Herry's eyes roll into his head. He fell to his knees. She did her best to cushion his fall to his side, but his head still cracked against the rocks. His name ripped from her throat. She knew nothing about first aid. She called his name over and over. Hands shaking furiously she felt around his head and checked her fingers for blood. Nothing, thank god. She smacked his cheek lightly. He didn't stir. Her insides felt like someone had reached into her mouth, pulled out her stomach and shoved it back in upside down. His chest was raising and falling, that was a good sign. She reached for his pocket with intention for his phone, she could call someone, but someone gripped her wrist.

A panicked squeal jumped from her throat. She whipped her head up with eyes the size of golf balls. The man was big, larger than Herry. Something tugged at her gut. Somehow she knew he wasn't there to help. She latched onto Herry's shirt, wrapping her fists into the green fabric.

"Herry, please, wake up," her tears strangled her voice, "Herry!" Her fists were ripped free from Herry's shirt as she was yanked her to her feet by the stranger. He smiled a cruel expression that froze her blood in her veins.

"Ah, young love," Cronus said as he leaned into her face, opening a portal to pull her through, "it's going to ensure you'll be pursued."

* * *

Haha, I don't think a date can end much worse than this. I'm sorry for doing this to you readers, but it had to be done, but I hopped you liked all the sweet moments before Cronus ruined it all. As always thanks for reading!


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Herry paced the living room as the rest of his team conversed. He had stopped listening a long time ago. How could he have put Opal in this situation? He could only imagine the terror she was in right now, but he tried not to, it only added to the anger he felt towards himself.

"This is getting us nowhere," he exploded, tossing out his arms, "Come on Jay we need to go after her."

"We don't know where she is," was his calm response, "All we can do is wait. He'll use her as bate." Herry groaned and began pacing again. His phone buzzed in his pocket, but everyone that called him was with him.

He answered with reserved anticipation, "Hello?"

"Herry?" the voice was a man's, but he didn't recognize it.

"Yeah."

"It's John," Herry's stomach plummeted, "Do you know where my daughter is?"

"Ah, sort of," he said, frozen in terror. Theresa waved her hands in front of his face and he blinked her into focus. She pointed up and mouthed 'upstairs.' He repeated it into the phone.

"Sorry?" John asked.

Theresa rolled her eyes and snatched away his phone, "Hi, John?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"I'm Theresa, Herry's housemate. Opal fell asleep in my bed while we were watching a movie. I was just going to let her stay there overnight."

"Okay, I guess that's alright," he said.

"Sorry to make you worry."

"Not at all, just get her to call home in the morning would you?" he asked.

"Sure," Theresa said and snapped the phone shut. She passed it back to Herry and said, "You have until tomorrow before you lose all of her father's trust."

"Great," Herry groaned in sarcasm and dropped down into the couch, bouncing up Atlanta on the opposite end. He hid his face in his hands while Jay continued to ramble on about strategy, useless strategy in Herry's mind because they weren't trying to figure out where she was. He gripped his hair at the roots, forcing himself to stay seated while Jay spoke. The minutes kept adding up, pulling on his hair for so long was giving him a headache.

It was the silence that pulled him out of his skull, not the slam in the entryway of the brownstone. Herry looked up to Jay in confusion, his leader's face was a mirror of his own, looking to the hallway. Jay recognized the gray haired man that appeared in the doorway of the living room instantly.

"How did you know where we lived?" Jay demanded from Percival.

Percival blatantly ignored Jay's question and bellowed his own demand to the teen on the couch, "What have you done?"

Herry wished the couch would swallow him whole. He gave Percival a slack jawed stare, his heart ceasing all movement in his chest.

"Gods damn it, I promised," Perceval yelled, his voice echoing off the walls. Fists clenched at his sides and chest heaving, his nose scrunched up in a scowl. His voice became low, but all the power of his delivery never swayed, "Promised her I wouldn't let her family get drawn into all of this…" he tossed his hands up to the air, stumbling over his words in his anger, "this… this shit.

"And then _you,_" Percival shot an accusing finger towards Herry, "You had to come along and ruin it all. I should have done something about you and Opal the second I realized who you were. Now she's gone and it's all because of _you_!"

The sting of tears behind Herry's eyes gave him back his voice. He shook his head and whispered, "You're right."

"Damn right," Percival stomped his foot into the floorboards and turned on his heel, yelling to himself as he stormed back out of the brownstone, "Oriole, I'm so sorry, I'll find her. I'll get your granddaughter out of this gods damned mess."

The whole room turned to silence. Silence that became deafening as everyone looked to Herry and waited for his reaction. He didn't say a word. He just got to his feet and somehow managed to place one in front of the other till he was out of the room.

"Herry," Theresa shot out a hand to catch his arm as he brushed past her and into the hallway. He paused but he didn't turn his gaze from the floor, "Herry I'm sorry, this wouldn't have happened –"

"Don't," he shot.

Theresa snatched back her hand from his arm.

"Don't say anything," he said, "I'm going for a drive."

"Herry?" Jay said, a warning edge to his voice.

"I'm just going for a drive," he said, his voice deep and even. He grabbed his keys from the ceramic bowl on the landing on his way out the door. He knew exactly where he was headed. His Granny always gave him good advice.

Jay waited till the front door was back in its frame before he said, "Someone follow him."

* * *

"Now why would they have you join their little glee club?" Cronus muttered as he paced around the cage Opal was huddled in. She hadn't said a word since she was brought to this cavern, musky and dim. He tried to prod her for answers but she just shied away from him, only building on the god's anger. Cronus continued speaking as he paced, "Thinking they can increase their odds if they have eight instead of seven."

Opal just stared with wide eyes. She had no idea what he was talking about. She didn't understand how she got from the top of a mountain to a cavern. He glared down at where she sat shivering, her arms around her legs in the very middle of her confine. His hands shot out to grab the bars, causing them to vibrate and reverberate across the entire structure. She flinched, but still didn't make a noise.

"You think you're being brave?" he growled at her, but she didn't meet his eyes, "I can tell you're terrified. Why would they add you to their team, you're obviously only hindering them. I could slice your throat in two seconds flat if I didn't need you to lure out the others."

She blinked back her tears and trapped the cry in her throat. She would not give him the satisfaction.

"Maybe they'd be up for a trade," he said, "Do you know what they did with Empusa?"

She didn't know who that was.

He narrowed his eyes, crouched down and leaned his arm through the bar to caress her hand. She jumped and jerked away to the far edge of the cage. He laughed and said with a sickening slick of sweetness, "In that case, I'm going to kill them, one by one and I'll leave your boyfriend for last." She buried her face in her crossed arms over her knees, hiding her face as it contorted with hysteria. Cronus stepped back in satisfaction. The girl's sobs the sweetest music.

She listened to his footsteps echo from the cavity her enclosure was placed. The God of Time paused in the entranceway, turning off whatever the dim light source had been. The darkness crashed in on her like a tsunami. She screamed. Launching herself for the bars of her cage she reefed on the solid fixtures, panic ridding herself of the rationality it was pointless. Her eyes were wide open but there was not a glimmer of light in the cave, she was completely blind.

The noises started to heighten her imagination. The drips of water from stalactites were the clipping of claws. She screamed her throat raw. She was shaking so hard she could hardly keep the bars in her grip.

There was the sound of metal on metal, the pop of the lock opening. Opal wedged herself between to bars, desperate for escape. Rusted hinges groaned as the door was inched open. She held her breath till her lungs burned.

"Opal it's me," the voice was a man's she couldn't place, especially with her mind warped by the dark.

"Who?" she said, her throat tight with panic.

"Percival," he said, fingertips of his outstretched hand brushing her shoulder. He gripped her shirt and tugged her out of her confines.

"How," she stumbled after him, her head in a whirl, "How did you find me?"

"GPS," he said, "I didn't trust that boy to keep you safe, I knew he wouldn't be able to keep you out of this."

"What?" she whispered, none of his words fitting into any kind of since in her brain.

"Shh," he jarred her to the side, dragging her to the wall of the cavern. The gravel crunched under her uncoordinated feet. She staggered along with Percival in the pitch. He pulled her down into a hole and they crouched into a wedge between two damp rocks. The lights whirled on. Opal could see the gray rock of the cavern wall in front of her face. She looked up to Percival, his face furrowed in deep wrinkles as he peeked out of a crack into the room trough his green goggles.

"Agnon!" Opal jumped at the bellow, Percival pressed his hand down harder on her arm, pushing her up against the chilled rock. Cronus continued his rant as his footsteps echoed out of the cavern, "I knew it sounded too quiet in here. It was those teens. They've got to be close still. Get the scorpion! We can't wait till tomorrow."

Percival waited until any sounds of the god had long dissipated before he dare whisper, "Let's go."

"What is happening?" Opal mimicked his tone, "Who is that man?"

"Cronus," Percival said, pulling her along the wall of the cave, "He's the Greek God of Time."

"No," she said, "There's no such thing."

"Do you really believe that?" he said.

She didn't answer.

"The gods are real," he continued, "I'm sorry you had to find out, I'm sorry I broke my promise."

"Who are you?" she dug her heels into the rock floor.

"Opal, I'm your grandmother's friend," he said, tugging her along, "We need to get out of here."

"How do you know this?" her demand was getting higher than a whisper.

"Shh," he said, continuing his trail outside, "I know because I am a descendant of Perseus and your grandmother was a descendant of Orpheus. I know because together we located and patched a rip in the underworld while we hunted all the horrors that escaped through it into the living world."

"What?" she asked as they stepped out into the cool air of dusk, "You did that, for real?"

"Yes," he turned to her, shrugging of his black leather jacket for her to put on. He grabbed an extra helmet off the back of his motor bike and pressed it into her hands.

"Orpheus," she muttered to herself, if her grandmother was a descendent of the hero than she was as well.

"Yes," Percival said.

"So, Herry," she asked, her cheeks flushing with his name.

"Hercules," Percival said in short response, hopping onto his bike, "Get on."

She followed his orders, gripping his middle tight when he tore off down the road. The wind roared in her ears, discouraging any further conversation. She wasn't sure how she felt about the vehicle, everything dangerously whipping buy. The solid walls of a car seemed more secure, safer to be transporting yourself in. Percival handled the bike with skill, maneuvering around corners faster than any car could.

The signs of Cronus' scorpion became evident once they reached town from the mountains. Cars were flipped on their sides and light posts were clipped right in two. If the trail of carnage wasn't already easy enough to follow the screams of panic helped to guide Percival's way.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Herry wasn't in the best state of mind to be driving, but he couldn't stand to be home any longer listing to Jay waste time. He made a right that would lead him out of town and to his grandmother's. The turn put the setting sun directly in the center of his window. He groaned and squinted through the light, swatting the visor down, but it wasn't quite low enough to block the sun. He fumbled on the consol for a pair of sunglasses, but found none. Grumbling he leaned over to the glove box and snagged the pair there, ramming them on his face just in time to see the porcupine lumbering across the road. He cursed and slammed on the breaks, he came screeching to a stop. The porcupine stopped and blinked dumbly up at his truck.

"Come on," he growled under his breath. When it didn't budge he whipped into the oncoming lane and zoomed past the animal. He rolled along down the highway, flicking on the radio when he came out his head long enough to realize the silence. A bird call came chirping over his speakers and he remembered Opal had left her iPod plugged in. He snapped off the radio and flicked the device to the far end of the cab. Gripping his steering wheel in white knuckled fists he tore down the road.

A glance to his rear view mirror informed him the small red car that had been behind him all through town had now made the same turn as him. He narrowed his eyes at the small figure in the mirror. It was too much of a coincidence. Theresa had a red car. He slammed his foot down on the break and pulled off onto the shoulder. The car stopped too, pulling off hundreds of meters behind.

Herry grumbled in irritation reaching for his seatbelt buckle. He was just about to jump out of his truck when his PMR buzzed in the cup holder. He paused his exit and scooped up the phone, flicking it open to read Jay's text. _Trouble on the far side of town, Theresa's out, we need a ride over._

"Herry," he jumped at his name, looking out the driver door window to see the red car pulled up beside his truck, Theresa in the driver's side.

"You go, I'll head back to the brownstone," he instructed through his open window, only giving Theresa enough time to nod before he tossed his truck in drive.

The scorpion's body alone was the size of a van. Legs blurred together as it scurried, eight of them. It had a hard, plated body, two pincers and a sharp pointed stinger. It smashed its claws into buildings and vehicles. People ran screaming out of the beast's rampage.

Herry zoomed up in his truck, parking it across both lanes of the road to cease its progression. Jay hurdled out of the truck, unsheathing his sword. He ran straight into a battle, knowing his team would be fast to follow.

"Take out the legs," Jay called and zigzagged in close, bringing his sword down on one of its middle legs. The roughly barbed limb fell to the ground, the scorpion quickly skittered around knocking Jay in the stomach with the flat side of its claw, sending him flying through the air and down the pavement of the street. It started scurrying over to him, but Archie lashed out with his whip and removed another leg from the other side of the creature. It raised its stinger higher in irritation and lunged out its claw to grab Archie's ankle. It began dragging him closer, stinger aiming. Archie dug his fingers around the grate of a gutter.

"Guys, I could use some help over here," he yelled. Herry jumped in, smashing his interlocked hands down on the joint of the claw, cracking its thick hide. Black ooze ran out of the wound. With its uninjured claw it whammed Herry in the stomach in an attempt to knock him away in the same fashion as Jay, but he held fast.

"Whoo," he yelled as he was lifted meters into the air, the scorpion brought its claw to its face, eight shining, black eyes observing Herry. He made a sound of disgust at the creature's horrid face, its pinching mandibles twitching. He launched away from the claw when the stinger came down for his head. Stumbling backwards Herry fell on his back and then pushed himself further away on hands and feet. He was shoved up against a flipped car, cornered. The scorpion drew back its stinger like an archer would an arrow.

In a frantic search Herry scoured his surrounding for something to block the stinger with. He yanked free the door from the car he was stuck against and tucked under it just in time. The tip of the stinger punched right through the metal of the car door with a horrid crunch and a drip off green venom dropped onto his shirt. Herry laughed nervously, staring down the length of the stinger, its sharp point glinting in front of his eyes. It pulled back its tail, bringing Herry's makeshift shield with it. With a flick it sent the door tumbling through the air, it crashed on the sidewalk, glass shards spewing onto the road.

Atlanta swarmed over and pulled him to his feet, dragging him to a more open area. She fired off her bolas for its good claw, wrapping it closed. Jay was up again and jumped in to take another leg, but it didn't seem to be slowed by its missing limbs. Theresa followed and knocked off another with her nunchucks. It was still as fast as before with half the number of legs.

Odie had darted into an alleyway to find a safe place to activate his portal shifter. His feet froze to the ground. He was met face to face with Percival. His motorcycle was tucked away in the ally, Opal ducking behind it. Percival had his knife ready in his fist, standing at the corner of a building for clear vantage point of the battle.

"Better activate that," the man said, snapping Odie out of his daze.

"Right," he nodded. He activated the device and nestled it in a nook beside a dumpster. He jogged back to the road, up beside Neil cowering behind the corner of a building. Odie stood with him for a moment as he studied the scene. There had to be a faster way to finish this thing off.

"Come on Neil," he pushed him out into the street, "start helping."

"Ahh," he screeched and fought against the smaller man, "Maybe if I had a weapon I could." The scorpion narrowed in on the pitched sound and scurried over on legs in a blur. Neil screamed again as it brought its stinger up. When it tried to strike down on them it impaled the street light directly above them instead. It burst into a tiny explosion of sparks and the glass from the bulb showered down on them.

"That's it," Odie said, gripping the sleeve of Neil's shirt as he jogged away, carefully brushing the glass shards from his hair.

"Hey," Neil whined, brushing away Odie's hand from his shirt, "You'll wrinkle it."

"This is taking too long," Odie ignored Neil's complaining and yelled to the group, "Use the charge in the PMRs."

"Explode it?" Atlanta asked and laughed excitedly.

"That's great Odie," Archie said, tossing out his hands and raising an eyebrow, "but how do we get it in the scorpion?"

"Easy," Herry removed the charge from the back of his PMR and clutched it in his fist. He ran straight for the scorpion, it lunged with its stinger. Dropping to the tarmac Herry skid underneath the creature, the stinger barely missed him. The tip imbedded into the concrete and trapped it there for a moment. While the scorpion struggled to pull its stinger free Herry forced his fist through the thick carapace of its underbelly, directly where all the eight legs came to attach to the thorax.

"Ewww," Herry scrunched up his nose and leaned back his head, the insides of the scorpion sloshed against his skin, slimy intestines wrapping around his arm, he deposited the charge deep inside its gut. He yanked his hand free, black tar coating his arm all the way up to his elbow. A river of black oil ejaculated from the hole all over Herry's face and chest. Centipedes ran up his spine, he felt an urgent need to free himself of the slick substance coating him and the sudden choking smell of petroleum. He rolled out from under the scorpion and jogged to a clear distance. Shuddering as he whipped the ooze from his skin the best he could.

Odie pressed the detonator and the creature exploded. The street was splattered with the black insides of the scorpion, intestines hanging from street lights like tinsel on a Christmas tree. Rough fragments of its hide projected out like sharp mill from a grenade. The heroes shielded their heads from the bombard, dropping to balls on the ground. Everyone suffered nicks and cuts from the scorpion's fragmented body. When the shock wave passed Neil jumped to his feet with a scream.

"What is this?" Neil pulled at his shirt, stained with sticky, black splotches.

"I don't know, but it's itchy as hell," Herry said, rubbing the now dried substance from his face.

"Haha," Atlanta jumped up, fists waving, "That was awesome."

"No, that was not awesome," Neil interjected, "That was messy and disgusting."

"Messy and disgusting and awesome," she said with bright laughter.

"Hey, Odie," Archie patted him on the back, "that really was a good idea."

"It's not over yet," Jay said and looked for Cronus. The god had an appalled look on his face as he took in the black gore slathered all over the street.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked.

"What you got for us now Cronus?" Jay taunted.

"This isn't over Jay," he reached a hand behind him and his black portal whirled open. Cronus paused from where he stood on top of a tipped minivan, frozen as he stared at his portal. He reached out his hand to hover over it. The wondering expression on his face slowly morphed into a smile. The portal blinked closed and he turned back to the seven heroes.

"I don't think I'm quite finished with you today," he rocketed off his platform. Landing in front of Atlanta he scooped her up in his scythe. Spinning around he launched her forward, conjuring a portal right in front of her trajectory.

"No, Atlanta," Archie ran for her as she stumbled forward, arms windmilling. Her hands pushed through the dark void and then he shoulders. Archie felt like he was in a dream where he knew he had to run, but his feet wouldn't move. The world swirled to a stop around him. He could hear his blood surging though his arteries. She was almost gone; all that he could see were her lower legs. He jumped, extending his grasp and reaching his hand until it felt like his arm was going to pull from his shoulder socket as he flew through the air. Landing flat on the concrete, the grit there biting into his skin, he grabbed Atlanta's foot, gripping it for life. Archie rolled away from the portal, and Atlanta pulled free. They tumbled together on the road, scraping to a stop.

Breathing coming in labored breaths they looked into each other's faces, Atlanta laying flat on top of Archie. A smile spread across her face and laughter bubbled up from her lungs. He smirked as well, finally letting the relief spread through him. She was safe and sound laying on top of him, digging her elbow into his ribs.

Archie's blood ran as cold as it had seconds ago when he thought she was lost, his muscles frozen in surprise by one simple gesture. Atlanta's lips were everything he thought they would be, a little chapped, but warm against his. It took a long time for his brain to process what exactly she was doing, but only an instant to return her kiss. Somewhere behind them Cronus screamed in outrage and they scrambled to their feet, jumping back to the battle at hand.

Cronus growled and lunged for the closest hero, Neil shrieked and dropped. The god missed his swipe, but his momentum kept him moving forward. He tripped over Neil, hunched like a turtle on the ground, and crashed to the pavement. Percival was steps form the god. He launched himself from the ally, biting the edge of his blade into the skin of Cronus' neck and jabbing his knee between his shoulder blades. Herry was quick to jump beside the older man to help him pin the god. One hand holding both of Cronus' wrists to his lower back and the other smashing his face into the pavement. The god squirmed and growled, but couldn't budge.

"I'll call Hermes to whip up a portal," Odie said, punching on his phone.

"No," Cronus yelled through clenched teeth. He turned his head right down against the road and let out a roar. Fire spewed from his mouth and came licking up around his head. Both Herry and Percival jerked their hands back from the gods head out of pure instinct. With some of the pressure gone Cronus jerked out of his hold. He took off sprinting down the road and down an ally.

"After him," Archie yelled, lashing out his whip. It wrapped around his ankle and the god went down with a hard thud. Rolling to his back Cronus shot a bolt of bright energy from the end of his scythe. It flashed down the road and with painful groans the heroes shielded their eyes. When the retina burning light faded Cronus had vanished, but in the middle of the dingy ally was Odie's contraption ripped in two.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Percival was with Jay and Odie, evaluating the damage to the portal device. There was nothing Herry could do to help, with the old man's distracted he couldn't help his eyes from wondering around the street. Had he managed to succeed in finding Opal? She hadn't been with Cronus. He glanced in the crevices of buildings, into the gloom of allies, dusk was not aiding in his casual search.

The world lifted off his shoulders when he spotted her head of blonde curls poking around the corner of a brick building, finally he was able to draw in a relaxed breath. A relieved smile morphed his face. She was safely away from Cronus.

His feet were already taking him towards her. He was just about to call her name when she glanced over. Her eyes went wide when they met his. She slipped away from the corner of the building and back into the dim of the ally, out of his sight. For a moment he was frozen, nothing moved, his heart, his feet, everything stopped. Why did she shy away like that? One second he was frozen and the very next he was running.

He stopped in the entrance of the ally, breathing heavily through his mouth. Opal was leaning against the white motorcycle, her arms wrapped around herself, gnawing on her lip as she cast her furrowed look at the ground. His footsteps were soft as he made his way to her, as if she were a mouse he might accidently startle off.

"Opal?" he asked in a whisper. He was close enough to tough her, but afraid to do so.

"It's all real," she told the cement ground, "That thing and you… you've done this before."

"I…" he stopped himself before he babbled, instead he simply said, "Yes."

She didn't say anything. She didn't look at him. Her eyes were fixed on her feet.

"Opal, I'm sorry," he reached out a hand for her shoulder, "I didn't want you to have to know."

She stiffened and leaned away, reaching up to brush his fingers off, "I need some time to work this out."

"I'm sorry," he repeated, rubbing his nose with his fingers, "I shouldn't have… this is all my fault."

"Herry please," he had never heard her more desperate or more firm. Her eyes flickered up to him for the first time, jamming his words in his throat. "Can I just be alone?" She phrased her comment as a question, but it was too forceful to be anything other than a statement.

He couldn't say anything. He just nodded once and turned, his feet numb as he walked. Percival cast him a judgmental look as the two passed one another, but it hardly registered in Herry's mind.

"Get on the bike," Percival said, picking up a helmet to pass to Opal. She gave a small nod, fixing the buckled of the helmet before she clambered onto the back of the bike. The engine came roaring on. Percival tore off from the ally once she was seated behind him.

She fought down the tears as they road, refusing to let them fall until she was home. The ride was fast, much quicker than usual with Percival weaving in and out of traffic with his small vehicle. They rumbled up to her house. Percival put his foot down to steady the bike and twisted around in his seat to look at her from over his shoulder. She took the cue and scrambled off.

Removing her helmet she asked, "Are you coming in?"

"No," he turned to face ahead down the road, his eyes sinking as he said, "I have to visit someone."

She nodded, placing the helmet back before she turned, jogging up the path to the house. Opal slammed the front door and leaned her back against the closed fixture. The tears overcame her in a wave. Everything that had happened had been so overwhelming, too much to take in during such a short time. She pressed her shaking fingers through her hair, forcing herself to take deep breaths.

"Chickadee, I thought you weren't going to be home till morning. Is everything alright with your friends?" her father called from the kitchen. Jumping strait she brushed away the moisture on her cheeks in a frantic. If her father saw her crying he would want to know why, he always did.

"Yeah dad," she said, her voice tight in her throat. She rushed for the stairs across from the landing before his footsteps reached the doorway.

"Opal," she could tell by the tone in his voice that he knew something was wrong. She managed to jump up the first two steps of stairs before John made it to the landing, "Opal, stop right there young lady."

She froze, looking up the steps to the second floor, her hand gripping the railing.

"Turn around," he said and she obeyed. He could always tell when she'd been crying no matter how hard she tried to cover it up, an empathetic coo etched into his voice, "Chickadee, what's the matter?"

"Nothing," she mumbled, flicking away a stray tear insistent to betray her.

"No one cries for nothing," he said, "What's wrong? Is it Herry, honey boys don't matter, they aren't worth crying over."

"Dad," she moaned, "why is that what you jump to first?"

"Well?" he raised an eyebrow, "Is that why?"

She huffed and kicked at the carpet on the steps, "Kind of."

"Chickadee," he rushed up the steps to pull her into a tight hug, "Don't cry, boys don't matter, they're assholes."

"Dad," she squirmed away from his embrace and backed up another step, "Herry's not an asshole. You don't understand."

"Then tell me," he pleaded, holding out his arms in pained confusion.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said and turned to run to her room.

"Opal," he called, taking a tentative step up the stairs.

"John," he was stopped by his wife's hand on his shoulder. He turned his worried eyes to her and she just shook her head.

"But –"

"Just let her be," Ophelia said, taking his hand to guide him back down the steps.

* * *

It had been seventeen years since he had been back to the city, since he had visited her. The path was grown over, no more than a little gravel pounded into the dirt. No one had been this way in years. Percival wished he had kept his helmet on. Its visor would have helped his way through the wildly growing tree branches. There was a time he would backpack up in this mountain, when he could freely walk down this path. Now his pace was slow as he navigated through the brush cast in the night's shadows.

It took longer than he had anticipated to work his way to his old camp. Coming past the last few prickling branches of a spruce he found nothing of the view had changed. The ocean spread out before him, the moon high in the clear night sky. He could hear the waves crashing against the cliff side hundreds of meters below.

The camp looked just as neglected as the path. What once had been a space of packed dirt in a grove of spruce trees was now a grassed meadow. The fire pit remained, a circle of carefully selected rocks set in a perfect circle. The log that had been rolled up for a seat was decaying away. Crawling with insects, the wood made soft from the weather.

Percival gathered up some branches and bark to start a fire in the grass covered pit. It didn't take long before he had it crackling up high. He unrolled his blue sleeping bag. He slipped in and leaned against the old log, the wood squishing under his weight.

This was where he and Oriole use to camp, it was their spot on the cliff side. He had never been one for visiting the dead at their grave. This was the closest he could get to her while he was still living, at this camp. He reached into the pocket of his leather jacket for the velvet box there. The white of the fabric was tarnished with lint, fuzz clinging to its every surface, muddling it gray. He opened the box and was met with the lightning flashes in the creamy white of an opal stone. Opal had been her favourite, she would have loved this ring, but he hadn't been the man she wanted to spend her life with.

"Oriole," he sighed, "I'm so sorry." He had been studying the gem for decades. He knew each colour that was trapped inside, how it flashed in which light. Knowing something for so long didn't take away from its beauty, especially with the light of the fire dancing over its smooth surface. He sucked in a deep breath of cool mountain air and snapped the box closed. He clutched it in his hand while he stared into the fire, its flames mesmerizing. He sat until it burned down to embers, glowing red, and then he shifted down into his sleeping bag for the night. The radiant heat from the coals guided him to sleep.

* * *

_Knock knock, knock knock knock. _It was her father, only her father knocked in that pattern. Opal sighed as she placed her violin on her lap. She turned on her bed to face her door and called for her father to enter.

"Hey there Chickadee," he poked his head in, a small smile on his scruffy face, "How you doing?"

"Fine," she said, looking to her instrument in her hands.

"I thought maybe you wanted a partner to play some music with," he stepped inside, his guitar in hand. She loved his guitar with the salamander drawn on its stained wood with a sharpie. He took a seat on the bed beside her and began strumming out some cords. Her father wasn't exceptionally good at playing it. He had picked it up to impress his musical girlfriend back when he was first dating her mother. Opal was sure it was his effort and not his actual skill that impressed her mom.

She struck up her bow and composed a melody to accompany the rhythm of cords he was strumming. She appreciated her father's idea to use music to sneak his way into her room. She knew he would just keep playing with her until she could think of how she wanted to tell him her problems.

"Dad," she placed her violin back on her lap and said, "I yelled at him. The way he looked at me, I think I hurt his feelings."

"Boys are stupid Chickadee, he probably deserved to get yelled at," John said, instantly taking his daughter's side over Herry's.

"No Dad," she said, frustration rubbing through on her voice, "I found out things about him he didn't want me to know. I just needed to be alone and he wasn't leaving me alone."

"If you're going to be in a relationship with someone, you're going to find out about all their secrets eventually," he said, "If you need time to think about them that's fine, you have every right to be alone. Herry's going to have to trust that you like him enough to accept his secrets. Chickadee, it sounds like he's afraid of losing you."

She nodded, keeping her eyes on her instrument as she whispered, "Yeah."

"Are you going to talk to him tomorrow?"

"Ugh," she groaned and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, "I don't want to see him tomorrow. I was so mean to him, I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't be embarrassed," he reached out a hand to rub her back, "Everyone gets frustrated sometimes and loses their cool. Just talk to him, apologize if you feel you need to, he'll understand."

"Mmm," she nodded, plucking at the violin strings with her finger tips.

"Tell you what," John said, getting to his feet, "Let's go out for ice cream tomorrow once I finish work. That will make you feel better."

"Kay," she smiled up at him, setting her violin aside so she could get to her feet and give him a hug. Once she could calm down enough to talk to her father he always ended up giving her good advice. She wrapped her arms around his neck tight and whispered in his ear, "Thank you Dad, I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes."

"No problem Chickadee, it's what I'm here for," he said, returning her embrace, "I just want to see you happy."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Jay was devastated by the loss of Odie's portal shifter. The young genius guaranteed he could fix it, only it would take time. Time was something they didn't have much of. December was just about to begin. Soon the year would creep to a close. Instead of attending school Jay organized the group to take another look out on the water for the storm creating dragon. It hadn't seemed to be causing much more trouble, its storms had stayed far off shore, but Jay needed to do something to keep himself occupied.

They had been out for hours. Jay could tell his friends were starting to get a little irritable. He was just about to call it quits and turn back when he spotted the churning of black storm clouds. He pointed and hollered, with one command from their leader they were off towards it. The closer they got to the storm, the more serious the issue became. There was an assembly of fishing boats in amongst the white caps.

Jay barked orders from the steering wheel, navigating them into the downpour. With skill Jay steered them from ship to ship collecting fishermen up in his boat. They came up to the last blinking dot on the radar Odie had set into his PMR. The ship was demolished, men struggling in the waves to keep their heads above water. On what remained of the bow was a coiled serpent. Its suction mouth attached to the hull. Its bugging eyes shifted to Jay's boat, with a sharp screech it let go of the destroyed fishing vessel, turning to lunge through the water for the sailboat. The disk mouth of the serpent that had been attached to the fishing boat was full of hooked teeth. Jay's memory jogged, his constant review of his textbooks paid off. Only one sea monster had a mouth full of teeth, Charybdis.

"Archie," Jay screamed and instantly his whip was around the neck of the monster, digging into its blue skin. It pulled back against the restraint and screeched. It dove deep into the ocean, but Archie's whip held tight. The monster pulled him off balance. Terror gripped him as the water rushed closer. He snapped his eyes shut and held his breath, waiting for the grip of the ocean to claim him entirely. His body was jarred to a stop and he was yanked back to the solid floor of the boat.

Gasping deep Archie opened his eyes to find one of Herry's hand wrapped around both of his on his whip, the other he could feel wrapped up in the back of his sweater. The fabric pulled at his arms, biting into his skin, the hard pressure of Herry's fist pressed on his spine. Archie let out a relieved laugh, the pain of Herry's firm hold on his clothing only furthering the since he was safe. Without Herry's added strength Archie was sure his whip would have ripped from his grasp, instead the metal snagged the beast in place.

"Hold it there guys," Atlanta announced. She launched herself from the side of the boat, onto Charybdis. The beast thrashed against its bonds, splashing up salty sprays of ocean water, drenching the boat and all its inhabitants. With quick agility Atlanta scaled her way up the back of the serpent, climbing her way to its head. She aimed her crossbow for its eye, just about to pull the trigger and burry a bolt in its scull when its tail snapped up. Atlanta fired but it bounced of the beast's brow as she was yanked away and under the ocean surface, Charybdis' tail holding her in a firm grip.

"No, Atlanta," Archie screamed and dropped the whip, leaving it all in Herry's control. He jumped off the boat in a dive before anyone could stop him. The air whooshed in his ears as he fell faster and faster. He punctured through the water, its buoyancy quickly halting his descent. He opened his eyes to the blue, suspended in the ocean. He let out a sudden scream as fright gripped him, precious bubble of air escaping his lungs. He spotted Atlanta, pushing against Charybdis' constricting tail and put aside his fear. He pumped his muscles to push through the water. Reaching Atlanta he wrapped his arms around the monster, planted his feet on its side to help her pry. His lungs were beginning to burn when he felt the slight give. It was enough for Atlanta to wiggle free. She grabbed his wrist and pushed off.

The surface seemed so far away, there were black dots starting to spot his vision, a fire in his chest. Just when he thought he couldn't hold on any longer they burst through from beneath the water. Archie gasped in a deep breath of air, it flooded his lungs, doused the flames there. The two clung to one another as they panted.

"You," Atlanta said as soon as she could grasp the air to spare, "You came in the water."

"You needed me," he said.

"Herry," Jay's yelling pulled them back to their surroundings, "pull it down here." Herry obliged to Jay's request, once its head was in arms reach he punctured his sword through Charybdis' brain. The beast went limp and slouched into the water. Its shimmering blue body melted into the water and merged in with the ocean. The clouds in the sky settled and the sunshine beamed down on the water beginning to smooth out.

Jay retracted his sword and set into motion, scanning the area for his overboard friends. Atlanta yelled for his attention, within instants they were both back on the sailboat. The team's next task was to rescue the remainder of the sailors. Jay maneuvered his ship with skill to the men in the water, quickly accumulating a gaggle of them.

Having acquired a vast number, cramming them into every crevice on his vessel he yelled to the men on his sailboat, "Is everyone here."

"The captain," one of the crew members said, "He was knocked out and fell in."

Jay jumped back to the wheel and began sweeping the area. Face down in the water he spotted the flash of a yellow rain jacket on a man. Quickly he brought his boat beside the body and reached down to haul him in, several of the fishermen jumped up to help. Jay yelled for Herry to take over the navigation. Dropping to his knees he flipped over the man and began performing CPR. There was something about his blonde hair peppered gray that looked familiar, but he couldn't recall from where. Perhaps he had been one of the fishermen Theresa had investigated when the first boat was hit. It didn't matter right now. Keeping his heart pumping blood was all that mattered.

* * *

Opal was down by the harbor waiting for her father's boat to get in. They were going out for dinner once he got off work. She was excited for dinner; she loved spending time with him and this would be a much needed distraction from all the things she had just learned the night prior. She watched the water through her binoculars, scanning the surface of the ocean for the ships, but none of them were in sight. That was odd, usually at this time in the afternoon she could spot them heading back in. Finally a boat emerged on the horizon, as it got closer she realized it wasn't a fishing boat, it was a sailboat. She huffed in irritation and was about to shift her binoculars away when she spotted the mob of fishermen sitting on the bow.

Confused with the image she ran to the edge of the dock, and took another look. Faces started to come into focus as the boat came closer. She knew the men sitting there, all soaked through. Her breathing caught when she spotted the little redhead hop onto the bow and begin maneuvering the sail there. It was already concerning enough to see the fishermen without their ships, but this was worse. This meant there was some impossible explanation.

The sailboat came up to the neighboring dock of the one she watched from. Quickly Opal ran down the wooden structure, water sloshing under the fixture with each step. She weaved her way through the fishermen filing off the boat, scanning each face for her father's.

"Herry," she yelled when she spotted him kneeled on the dock, tying off the rope attached to the sailboat. He jerked his head towards his name, when his eyes met hers they darkened and his lips pulled down in a frown. She started running for him, the second she did he jumped to his feet and lurched towards her. He grabbed her arms in his fists, stopping her mid run.

"I'm so sorry," he said, shaking his head, "Opal, you're dad."

"What about my dad?" she demanded, her lungs trying to breathe under the sudden pressure constricting her chest.

"He's not breathing," he said.

"No," she ripped herself out of his grip, tears springing into her eyes. She stared at him unbelieving for a long moment, sneering at him as if he had suddenly transformed into some hideous monster. With hesitant movements she stepped around him and she found her father. She heard the sirens of an ambulance swarm up behind. Her father was lying on the floor of the boat, motionless as Jay pulsed the palms of his hand into his chest.

"No," she clasped her hands over her mouth and took a staggering step forward.

"Opal," Herry reached out a hand to place on her shoulder in effort to offer her some comfort.

"Dad," she ignored him and screamed. Tears were flowing in steady steams as she jumped aboard and dropped to her knees, gathering her father's limp hand up in both of hers to press against her cheek.

Medics pushed onto the boat with a defibrillator. The professionals relieved Jay of his duty and wrestled Opal away from her father. Herry stepped to the side of the dock and leaned over to catch Opal under her armpits and lifted her out of the boat while the medics ripped open John's shirt to stick the charges of the defibrillator to.

"Let me go," she squirmed suspended in the air and reached for her dad, bursting into hysterics when the first surge of electricity jarred through her father's chest.

"Opal, it's me," he set her down, spun her around and trapped her in a hug. She held fast to him, gathering the fabric of his shirt to ball into her tiny fists and buried her head in his chest. He rested his chin on top of her head and rubbed her back. There was nothing he could do for her. His stomach sank when the paramedics sat back on their heels, heads bowed. Opal struggled to get free of his embrace and he let her go. She dropped onto her father's chest and balled into the crook of his neck, her shoulders shaking in hysteria.

"I'm sorry buddy," Jay clasped his hand down on Herry's shoulder.

He sighed and said, "Don't apologize to me." The medics tore Opal away from her father to take his body away. A scream ripped from her throat, her face soaked with tears, both arms reaching for him. She fell to the floor of the sailboat when the doors of the ambulance closed and pounded her fists against the white laminate. Herry sucked in a deep breath and stepped down into the boat. He dropped to his knees and took Opal's wrists, the sides of her hands already blossoming with the purple of bruises.

She struggled to rip her hands free from his grip, but she was hardly stronger than a mouse. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She shook in his embrace, clawing at his back, the tears coursing down her face hot on his neck.

"Herry," she hiccuped his name with a strangled voice, "Those stories, they're all real aren't they?"

"What stories?" he asked.

"The legends, Orpheus was real, he really did go to the underworld to get his wife," she said, "I can do the same for my dad."

"Oh," he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, he hunched his shoulders and leaned back to pull her away from his shoulder. He cupped her tear sticky face in his hands and said, "Opal, the underworld is a very dangerous place."

She scrunched her eyes closed as another wave of tears ran down her face. She gasped a sharp breath into fire filled lungs to say, "Please, he's my dad."

"I'm sorry, I can't promise anything," he squeezed his eyes shut and leaned his head forward to rest against hers. He hated to have to shatter her hope. She sniffled as she took in a shaky breath and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him in for another hug. He returned it. He'd hold her for as long as she needed him to.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Her mother had said she didn't need to go to school until she was ready, but Opal's mother didn't know what she knew, she did have to go to school. At the end of the day she set up camp in front of the janitor's closet. She just sat cross legged leaning against the lockers across the hall, holding her violin case in her lap. Five minutes dragged into ten, twenty, an hour, but she was not detoured, Herry's truck was still in the parking lot. At an hour and thirteen minutes the janitor's door flew open. Theresa stood frozen in the doorway, eyes wide and jaw slacked. Opal scrambled to her feet to take the redhead's hands.

"Please, I know what's through there," she stammered, "I have to get in, my dad, I can save him like Orpheus tried to save his wife, please."

"Go to Hades?" Theresa muttered, and then shook her head firmly, "No, I'm sorry, I can't let you in."

"Please," she clasped her hands together over the handle of her violin case and begged. Just then the portal behind Theresa came flaring to life, casting a brilliant blue light into the closet and out into the hall. When Jay stepped through his face instantly turned hard.

"What is this?" he asked Theresa.

"Jay," Opal turned to him and told him what she had just told Theresa. Jay thought her proposal over in silence for a moment, both girls watching him expectantly, both hopping for a different answer.

"I can take you to the passage to the underworld," Jay said slowly, Opal's face lit up and Theresa's narrowed with irritation.

"Jay, what are you doing?" she hissed at him.

Still speaking to Opal he said, "I can take to the passage, but I can't promise Persephone will let you through." He glanced up to Theresa to see if she understood, and the calmed expression on her face confirmed she did see his tactic. There was no way Persephone would let this girl through to the Underworld. He gestured for both of them to follow him back through the passage to the god's secret sanctuary.

On the other side of the magnificently impossible portal was the rest of Jay's team. They all sent him their own personalized variation of the same shocked face. Herry was the fastest to snap out of surprise and he snatched jay's upper arm to drag him to the side.

"What are you doing?" he whispered harshly to his leader.

"She wants a chance to meet Hades," he told him.

"Jay, you can't let her go to the underworld," he raised his voice slightly in his anger, "how many times have we almost lost our lives there?"

"Don't worry buddy," Jay patted his shoulder, "I don't doubt that Persephone won't let her through."

Herry didn't say anything back to him, and the panic etched into his face didn't fade. He dropped Jay's arm and fell into step as the group started off down the hall, he followed in a brood. He watched Opal as they walked, shifting her gaze form statue to statue, tapestry to tapestry. This place was pretty overwhelming on first visits. He remembered felling the same way when he first stepped through the portal. There was nothing else like it he had ever seen before or probably ever would, immaculate and extravagant.

Jay led the way to Persephone's solarium and paused for a moment at the door. The goddess would not be happy about the surprise, and they all knew how Persephone was with her anger management. He took in a breath and pushed open the golden door. Persephone looked up from watering her plants, greeting Jay with a smile and a warm hello in her soft spoken, soothing voice. Everything about her mannerism changed when Opal was ushered in behind him.

"Jay," her skin morphed to an unflattering gray and her hair tangled like it had a mind of its own, her soft voice was now screaming and fierce, "What are you doing bringing mortals here?"

"She's a descendent of Orpheus," he pointed out, not detoured by the woman's outbreak.

Her hair flattened back to its neatly combed appearance and her skin returned to a healthy glow, "You're Oriole's."

"I'm her granddaughter," she said quietly and nodded, "My father just passed, I thought I could play for Hades like Orpheus did."

"Absolutely not," the coin flipped again and the raging goddess was back, "The underworld is no place for mortals, especially ones that have no training as heroes."

"Please," Opal flicked her violin case open and removed the instrument. She began playing, as the song progressed Persephone's shoulders hunched and she faded back to her usual appearance. With a blissful sigh she clasped her hands together and placed them under her chin, her head tilted to the side as she listened to Orpheus' descendent beautiful performance with the violin.

"Jay?" Herry whispered warningly, his heart bingeing to threaten bursting from his chest. Jay just shook his head and sent his friend a wide eyed face. Opal concluded her song and everyone looked over to Persephone with curiosity.

"Oh, that was so beautiful," she cooed and skipped over to the mural of the seasons painted on the wall. With a wave of her hand the static figures jumped to life, they smiled at their goddess and parted the curtain to the underworld.

"She's not going by herself," Herry instantly voiced.

"She has to do it on her own," Persephone said. Herry staggered back a step, running shaky hands through his hair. Opal took a terrified look down the dark gate to hell, the smell of sulfur wafting through the open passage. She gripped her violin, frozen to the spot in fear. It was dark. Her heart hammered in her ears, her stomach constricted so small she'd be lucky to fit a grape into it. She couldn't let the darkness get to her, her father needed her. She straightened her back and held her head high. For her dad. She sucked in a deep breath as she steeped through the threshold and into a nightmare.

The door to Persephone's study exploded open and a gray haired blur bolted for the passage to Hades. Percival pounded a frustrated fist into the bricks. A sickening snap sounded and the man retreated with his hand exploding in pain. Cradling it gently in the other he turned back to the crowd with sharp eyes.

"Persephone," he screamed in anger at the goddess, "what have you done?"

"She's going after her father Percival," she told him, still blissful form Opal's performance.

"I promised, Persephone, I promised Oriole I would keep her family safe, keep them away from all of this insanity," he yelled.

"It's too late," the goddess said, "she's on her own now. Now that man will need his body to return to, if you'll excuse me I have to go talk to our resident god of thieves about robbing the morgue."

* * *

Opal stood in the darkness, any light from the living world snuffed by the entrance of the gate closing behind her. The muggy heat stuffed her lungs. The smell of rotten eggs burned her nose and chocked her throat. Her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, the hazy backdrop of this forsaken place. Shadows began to jump and shift and her muscles constricted. She clenched her eyes shut when the moaning of a banshee floated up from the trail she was to follow and bore into her ears.

It wasn't that she was afraid of darkness, she was afraid of all the things that it concealed. This was a place straight from her worst imaginations. There was no way to know all the horrors this darkness hid. She knew they were there. Every single hair on her body stood on edge. She could feel their presence all around.

What was she thinking? Tears pricked at her eyes and spilled over her clenched eyelids. She couldn't do this. She spun around, but there was no sign of the portal. She was alone and stranded. Dropping to her knees and clutching her instrument to her chest she let out a hysteric scream. The tears raked over her body huddled on the ground. She cried her throat raw, her lungs burning in their struggle for air. She didn't know how long she sat there on the gravel crying. She spent even more time after the tears finally subsided, frozen on the ground with eyes wide and unblinking.

"For you dad," she breathed out a long breath and got to her feet. The darkness constricted in on her again. New fear rippled up her spine, threatening to paralyze her again. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes to summon her father's crooked smile into her mind. For her dad. She took her first step forward.

The heat and the confinement of the tunnel soon stirred up the sticky sweat that began running down Opal's brow and back. Breathing was hard with the thick air and she was soon panting as she walked. For a long time the only sound was the crunch of gravel under her feet. She thought she heard a breath other than her own and she twirled around in a panic. Fresh tears sprang up in her eyes as she peered back into the black of where she just came, she saw nothing. Felling the fear's crippling grip fastening her feet to the ground she closed her eyes to summon up her father's face to fight it. For her dad. Calming herself with a deep breath she turned and pushed forward. Telling herself her breath was the only breath she was hearing in the never ending shadows.

She began her slow pace again, listening to the crunching of the gravel of the path beneath her feet. Then she heard a similar sound further off behind her down the trail. With a sharp gasp she twirled around, but there was still nothing. She stood still and listened for any more curios sounds that she wasn't creating, but it was so difficult to hear over the hammering of her heart in her ears.

Then she felt it, a hot puff of air on the back of her neck, her blood ran cold in her veins and her stomach filled with ice. Slowly she turned to look right into the glowing red eyes of a hellhound. The smell of rotting flesh knocked her in the chest and she gagged. The beast barred its yellowed teeth, one of its top canines snapped in half, saliva dripping from its lips in a steady stream. A low growl puffed from its mouth and into her face, its hot breath burning like steam. Opal was paralyzed under its stare. This is why she was afraid of the dark, because of the monsters it concealed.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

The hellhound growled a deep resonating sound from its chest. Opal stood frozen in place, eyes wide and breathing shallow as the glowing eyes shifted in its sockets. It just stood there in front of her, and that's when she realized it couldn't see her. Of course, it must be difficult to see from eyes that actually emitted light rather than absorb it, seemed like a rather poor design. Maybe if she stayed still long enough it would leave her be. So, she stood like a deer, paused by a crack of a twig off in the bush. There was a drip of sweat that rolled down her spine, tickling, daring her to lose control and shiver.

The beast took a step forward, its nose mere centimeters from hers, blowing volcanic air down her throat. She bit her tongue to hold back the whimper. She heard the gravel crunch under its massive paw armed with knives for claws, if it took one more step forward it would find her. As quietly as she could she unlatched the case of her violin. With a quick swipe she yanked the instrument free and hucked the case as hard as she could into the darkness off to her right. The beast exploded in swift motion, jaws snapping. When her lungs separated enough oxygen from the syrup of gasses in the air she screamed without intention.

The hellhound hadn't lunged at her though. She realized when she didn't feel the pain of muscle being parted by dagger teeth. It had, however, heard her scream. It stood a much more comfortable ten yards off, her violin case smashed under its paw. It snarled and snapped in the general direction its perked ears had narrowed in on. The tears started when the beast started taking slow places towards her. She clutched her instrument in her hand at her side, but she couldn't play it from there. Taking in a shaky breath she summoned the courage to whip her violin up to her shoulder. The hellhound instantly locked onto the movement and jumped into a barreling charge.

She fell to the side, her crossed arms breaking her fall on the gravel and her violin tumbled out of her reach. She scrambled after it and with shaking fingers whipped it back to the ready. She turned to see the beast running down on her again, she began playing. She turned her face to the side in an effort to shield it while she forced herself to keep playing.

Opal had been bit by a dog once. It had been when they were living in Victoria, when her mother was working at the record studio. She was holding her father's hand as they walked the shores of the Pacific, the damp sand squishing under her toes. They were out of the city; her father always took her out of the city in his endless attempts to escape it. The gray landscape of suburbia behind them and the natural greens and browns and blues filled her vision.

"Look over there Chickadee," her father crouched to her level and pointed at some brown and white birds off in the distance. They were running around the sand on their stilt legs, poking at the ground with their pointed bills as they following the incoming and outgoing waves.

"What is it daddy?" she looked up to him and asked.

"They're sandpipers," he told her, "they're eating little worms in the sand."

"What does a sandpiper say?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," he said, "we'll look it up when we get home."

"I want to get a better look," she dropped his hand and slowly tiptoed over to the birds. As she approached they scattered, she turned to send her father a beaming smile, the mess of blonde curls on top her head bouncing, "They look so silly daddy." Giggling she turned to chase them. John didn't see the lab in the sand grasses. He was watching his daughter, smiling at the amazed look on her face as she pointed at the birds' legs, blurring together as they ran. He heard someone call and he jerked his head around to see an elderly man stumbling for the bounding lab.

"Opal, no," John scrambled to his feet nearly falling face first into the sand, heart exploding in his chest. The dog was faster and closer, it latched onto his little girl's leg, dropped her to the sand.

"Daddy," she screamed and reached for him, tears springing into her eyes.

"Opal," he yelled back, charging down the beach, sand flinging out from under his feet. He had never run that fast before in his life. He punted the dog in the ribs and with a sharp whine it fell back. He scooped up his daughter, gluing her protectively to his chest. The lab got to his feet again and jumped with teeth bared. With a strong swipe, John pinned the dog down by its neck with his free hand, refusing to let the squirming animal up until its owner got there. Oh, and when he did get there, John would not spare any feelings.

That was the pain and the terror Opal remembered as the hellhound closed down on her. She tried to guess what the feeling would be from a dog twenty times the size of a lab, but the crunch of muscular jaws never wrapped around her. No boney knifes sunk into her flesh. She opened her eyes and peeked over. The dog was curled in a sleeping ball, laying in the middle of the path.

"Oh my god," she breathed shakily on shallow breath and tiptoed away. She held out her hand in front of her face to watch her nerves cause her fingers to quiver. She swallowed hard and decided to keep playing her instrument as she walked, hoping it would still any more monsters in the shadows. Finally she came to a lighted clearing, pomegranate trees growing around its perimeter, she allowed herself a moment to relax in the security of the light. A shiver passed through her as she shook off the terror the dark had blanketed her in.

There was a splash of water and her violin was up like a soldier poising a gun, at the ready. Her breath was heavy as she peered down the inky water of the Styx, heart hammering as the silhouette of a boat drew closer and closer. The ferryman, Opal couldn't recall his name. He was hooded in a cloak. The only thing visible were his red, scaly hands, fingers tipped with claw like fingernails and his glowing eyes peering though the shadows cast over his face. The boat sliced through the water, over to a flattened section of land just a few paces from her. He groaned and held out a greedy hand in her direction. Right, she needed to pay him. She had a ten in her pocket, was Canadian an acceptable currency?

Pinching the neck of her violin and the bow in one hand she fished into her pocket for the crumpled bill. Holding it out to him he snatched it up and wafted it under his nose to smell, with another sickly groan he waved her aboard. The temperature was cooler over the water. They slowly maneuvered downriver from the tight tunnel Opal had found herself in. The ceiling opened into a vast cavern. There was enough light to see the barren cliffs and mountains, the green, eutrophic waters she floated on. She gripped her violin tightly on her lap as she watched the miserable place unfold around each river bend, the whips of sunken ships sailing along with the ferryman's solid boat.

She was dropped off at the gruesome gate to a throne room, skulls and bones struck together to form an enormous arch. She took in a deep breath and shook out the fingers of her free hand, gaining her confidence to walk under and through. _For you dad,_ she closed her eyes and ignored the hallow sockets of the skulls watching her.

The throne room was like a Greek temple, enormous columns holding up the roof, views of Hades' domain between them. The Lord of the Dead was sitting on a golden throne, set at the top of a stairway. He watched her approach, his large form intimidating as he sat straight with his chest forward. Slowly Opal walked over the blue and white swirls of the tiles beneath her feet, she stopped in front of the stair steps and offered an awkward bow. There was a deep howl that shook the building down to its frame, Opal took in a sharp breath and snapped her head around.

"That's just my puppy," Hades waved the sound off and giggled.

Opal sent him an unbelieving look and rubbed her ears, she most defiantly didn't expect the God of the Underworld to sound so, flamboyant.

"What can I do for you mortal?" he asked her.

"Umm," she bowed again before she made her request, "my father just passed –"

"No, most definitely not," he cut her off and stated firmly, "I'm sorry, if he's dead he's not leaving."

"Hades, your deathliness," she gave an attempt at flattery, "I am a descendant of Orpheus."

"Orpheus?" Hades looked forward with curiosity.

"Yes," Opal nodded, "I thought maybe I could play you my violin for my father like he did for his wife."

"Interesting proposal," he leaned back in his throne, rubbing his black beard in consideration, "If you impress me, I'll offer you the same deal I did Orpheus. If you can lead your father out of the underworld without looking back at him, I will allow him to go."

"Yes, thank you," she nodded and poised her violin when he gestured for her to play. Opal's heart was pounding with anticipation as she performed. When she finished her song she stood frozen for a moment, the bow resting on the strings of her violin. She sucked in a much needed breath and dropped her instrument to her side. Looking up to the Lord of the Underworld she found him slouched back in his throne and smiling blissfully. Realizing she was finished he exploded from his seat and danced down the steps to his throne. Opal startled at his sudden movement, and staggered back a step as he rushed towards her. He took her by the wrists and twirled her in a circle.

"That was lovely, just lovely," he finished his little duet with her and then ran up to his throne again like a giddy school girl. Opal knew the worry for the god's sanity was plastered all over her face, but she couldn't help it. Seated again Hades called for Thanatos to collect up her father's soul. She smiled in relief.

"Thank you," she dipped her head several times over towards him.

"Now have Charon take you back to my Perseph-a-nephy's garden, Thanatos will meet you there," he said, receiving him another skeptical and concerned face from the girl, "and don't forget, don't look back."

"Yes Hades, thank you," she bowed at her waist and turned back for the ferryman.

* * *

With immense contempt Opal cringed at the horrid sound of a bow being pulled across her violin, _her violin_. She heard Charon's haunting laugh as he continued to create amateurish sounds on the instrument. Why couldn't she have considered that the ferryman didn't do round trips? She'd still have her violin if she had.

Her irritation was forgotten when she heard the beat of thick wings and then felt the swoosh of hot air wash over her. She clenched her eyes shut and prayed it wasn't a monster behind her, no matter what she wouldn't look back. She wouldn't look back. She heard the thud of weight meeting solid ground and her mind raced in anticipation, waiting for whatever was behind her to claim her death.

"Opal, Chickadee."

"Dad," she laughed as the relief spread through her, like the warmth from a mug of hot chocolate after an afternoon out in the snow, "I missed you."

"I missed you too," he said, "I can't believe your here."

"Yeah, me either. Are you ready?" she asked the dark void stretching out in front of her.

"Let's go," he said, "I'm right behind you Chickadee, don't look back." She took in a deep breath and nearly gagged on the strong smell of rot. She didn't have the security of what appeared to be her only defense in this place, no, now Charon was defiling it with his inexperience. Slowly she started a ridged pace down the trail, praying they wouldn't run into another hellhound. Even with the terror of attracting attention to them Opal couldn't help but call back to her father every few minutes. Every time he answered with, 'I'm right behind you Chickadee, don't look back.'

They approached the section of the path she had been ambushed, her breathing became shallower as she scuffled through, the beast nowhere to be seen. She did find her shattered violin case, lying open on the trail. Little good it would do her now.

She let out a deep sigh of relief when she saw the bright promise of the living world blink open. The light swarmed her vision and pricked at her eyes acclimatized to the darkness. She shielded them and squinted towards the exit.

"We're almost there," she could hear the excitement and the joy in her father's voice, for the last few yards of the journey he reminded her, "I'm right behind you Chickadee, don't look back. I love you, don't look –"

"Dad?" she froze in the sudden fresh air of Persephone's solarium. Panicked she called for him again. Why wasn't he answering? What had happened to him? Where was he?

"No, Opal, don't look back," Percival screamed at her, but she was going to turn around, her body was already making the motion. There he was, her father, his scruffy face struck with horror.

"Dad?" his name leaped from her chest, struck with the devastation of what she had just done. He hadn't yet exited the underworld, just one step away to joining her again in the land of the living. He started to recede back into the darkness, being pulled by some invisible force. His lips were moving and his arms were stretched out to her.

"No, Dad!" she sprang for the portal.

She broke through just long enough to hear his words, "Chickadee, tell your mother I love –"

She was yanked back, the wall of Persephone's solarium reforming.

"NO!" she screamed, her voice pitched and broken. Dropping to her knees and hunching over she buried her face in her hands, tears running hot down her cheeks, "Dad, no, I'm so sorry, I know now. I know why Orpheus looked back. Dad, I couldn't hear you. Why? Why, Dad, I'm so sorry."

"Opal," the voice was gentle, "Let's go home."

"No," she shoved the hand on her shoulder aside, "Just leave."

"Ugh," Percival groaned and stepped away, "Chickadee –"

"Don't call me that," she shot, starting off strong before her voice crumbled into tears, "That's what Dad… called…"

Percival sucked in a deep breath, pressing his fingers into his temples. John was a good man; he didn't deserve to be caught up in all of this. It wasn't fair his daughter had to go on without him, but that's how it was. He could wait for her to settle before he took her home, it was the least he could do for her.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Opal was slow to answer the knock on the door, more co-workers of her father coming to give their condolences she was sure. She'd had enough of painting on a false face. With a deep breath she prepared herself to force a smile, but she wasn't met with a fisherman that knew her dad, she was met with a white rose, blooming in her face.

"You doing okay?" she looked up to the flower's presenter and didn't have to force the smile.

"Mmm," she gingerly took the flower from Herry's hand and gestured for him to come inside, "You know this flower looks suspiciously similar to the ones growing in your Granny's front yard."

"Does it?" he clasped his hands behind his back, rocked back on the heels of his feet and looked up to the ceiling while he whistled. She smiled again and brought the rose under her nose to smell.

"Come upstairs?" she asked and rose up on the first step. He nodded and followed her to a small room overlooking the ocean. Rye jumped off the white comforter neatly spread over the bed, leaving a patch of black fur where she was nestled. She came over to lick Opal's hand and then greeted Herry in the same manner.

"Your room?" he asked, though obviously it was. There was a guitar on a stand in the corner of the room, a salamander drawn on with a black sharpie. She set the rose down on her desk with an assortment of music sheets and then dropped onto the purple comforter on her bed. Her window was huge, taking up half the wall. It was open at the moment, letting in the sound of the wind and the waves. She leaned her head back on the sill she gestured for him to join her.

"Thanks for coming by," she said, "It's been kind of lonely lately."

"Where's your mom?" he sat on the edge of the bed, one leg folded in front on him and the other still touching the ground,

"She's in the basement most of the time, all her recording stuff is there, I figure she's distracting herself," she shrugged and looked up to the roof, "My cousin has been spending more time at the university."

"Mmm," he said. What was he doing here? He didn't know what to say to her, he had no idea what she was going through. Tears were beginning to glisten in her eyes, threatening to fall. She turned away from him to rub her eyes. He sighed and looked over to her guitar, after a moment of consideration he reached over to grab the acoustic instrument.

"Play me something?" he asked softly.

"Mmm," she nodded and held her hands out for the instrument. She watched her hand on the neck of the guitar as she strummed. Out of the corner of his eye Herry noticed Rye lie down and drift into sleep. He smirked, yeah, Orpheus' descendant. She looked over to him expectantly when she finished.

"Amazing as always," he smiled and shifted over to her, taking the guitar he set it on his lap and said, "Now teach me something."

She sent him a doubtful look.

"Hey, don't look at me like that," he exclaimed, "It can't be that hard, right?"

"We'll see," she smiled and bit her lip, scooting away from the wall she sat directly in front of him so she could point to the frets and strings she wanted him to place his fingers on to make a certain chord. When he strummed it and it rang out true she taught him another chord. She had him strum out the three chord sequence and as any beginner did, he had trouble switching from chord to chord.

"How do you do it so quickly?" he asked.

"It just becomes muscle memory over time," she said taking the guitar back to demonstrate the sequence she just taught him.

"Kay, let me try again," he held out his hands and bent his finger back towards himself. She handed it over and he slowly placed his fingers down to create the first chord.

"Tell you what," she smiled at him and shifted over to sit beside him, she pulled his hand off the guitar's neck and formed the chord herself, "you strum and I'll worry about the part that required actual skill."

"Hey," he said in mock offence, but fell into a comfortable position to allow her free rein on the neck of the guitar. Resting his hand palm down on the mattress to the far side of the girl he asked, "You ready?"

"Yeah," she said and he strummed in a simple rhythmic pattern. She watched her hand and he watched her. She started singing, quietly at first but as the song progressed she got louder. She dropped her hand when the song finished and leaned into him as she laughed lightly, "We could go professional."

"Oh yeah," he played along, "We'd sell out every show."

"And don't forget the platinum records," she shot him up a smile. His smile dropped as he watched her face. His heart began to race and his stomach jumped into his throat, suddenly very aware of how close she was, tucked up under his arm. He could feel her warmth against his side. Her smile fell as well, but she didn't look away. His eyes were drawn down to her slightly parted full lips. Opal cleared her throat and turned her head down. He jumped back with a frustrated hum, what was he doing? She just lost her father, there was sure to be a million things whirling around inside her head, she did not need him to kiss her right now.

"Opal," he sighed and she looked back to him in curiosity, "I didn't want you to get dragged into all this. I'm sorry it didn't work out that way."

"Don't be," she reached out a hand to place on his knee, "Finally I can stop wondering about how you managed to bust my lock."

He sighed out a laugh and shook his head. He leaned his elbow on the windowsill and brushed his fingertips over his lips, focusing his vision on the ocean. Letting out a shallow breath he asked, "What happened down there."

"Ah," she stiffened. Her heart began to race with the image of those red eyes and yellow teeth, the pressure of the darkness all around, "I don't want to go back anytime soon."

Herry looked over to study her for a quick moment, looking back through the window he said, "It wasn't as simple as you were expecting."

She was quiet. Holding her breath and closing her eyes to fight away the fear. When she trusted herself to speak she shook her head and whispered, "No."

"It never is," he said, a graveled edge to his voice she wasn't accustom to hearing, he cleared his throat and flashed her a warm smile, "It doesn't matter now, I know you couldn't get your father, but at least you're back."

"Did you think I wouldn't come back?" she asked, a panic gripping her chest.

He didn't answer.

"Oh my god," she pressed her fingertips into her forehead, her breathing hitching, "I could have died. What was I thinking?"

"You weren't," he said, "I know how it feels. You don't think, you just do, especially when it's for someone you love."

"Don't let me do anything so stupid again," she said.

He huffed out a laugh and said, "Doing stupid things for people in trouble, it's in your blood. I can't stop you, hell I'd probably help you."

"What do you mean?" she asked, sending him a curious gaze.

"You're a hero, like Orpheus was."

"A hero?" she muttered under her breath. She never thought anyone would ever label her with that title. She was the quiet girl that would rather spend her Saturday afternoons with her instruments than people. Herry, there was no question in her mind he was every letter of the word. She saw what he did with that scorpion, he was agile and quick. He knew what his body was capable of, how to use it as a tool to get the results he wanted. He didn't freeze because of fear, it didn't muddle his brain, she could even argue it made him more resourceful.

"Hey," he reached over a hand to ruffle her hair, "Get that look off your face. I like it better when you smile."

"How do you deal with it?" she asked.

"What?"

"Everything you see," she said.

He laughed and shrugged, "I don't know. I never really thought about it. I've just always, I don't know, accepted it."

"Well you're a bundle of help," she said, "I guess I'll just sleep with all the lights on for the rest of my life."

"What's that thing they say about facing fear to overcome them?" he said, waving his hand through the air to prompt a response from her.

"Bullshit," she said, tossing out her arms as she exclaimed, "I use to tell myself it was just my imagination when I thought there was something hiding in the dark. Now I know there really are things that hide in the dark."

He smiled, but his conscious pricked at him again, if it wasn't for him she still wouldn't know.

"It's cool," she took in a deep breath and folded her hands neatly on her lap, "I'm sure it will seem less crazy after a while. Someday I'll be able to leave the closet doors open again and leave the shower curtain shut when no one is using it."

He smirked, looking up he said with genuine sincerity, "If you ever need anyone to talk to about this, I'll be here." She gave him a small smile and nodded. Looking through her window to the ocean she fell silent for a while. She took her hand back from his knee and began twisting her fingers together as she thought.

"Herry?" she said softly, keeping her eyes cast outside.

He looked to her and waited for her to continue, when she didn't he prompted with a, "Yes?"

"I'm tired of this, of feeling like this," she sighed and looked down to her hands, "but every time I try to go out or do something and start to feel more normal I just get overwhelmed with this guilt. I should have saved him, but I couldn't, I shouldn't be allowed to feel happy."

"Opal, there was nothing –"

"I know," she cut him off, "It was stupid and I hate myself for it, but I know. I don't want you to hear you try to make me feel better, I just want someone to know."

He didn't say anything at first, he was afraid to say anything. With a small smile he reached out a finger to tilt up her chin, when her teary eyes flickered up to his he asked, "Maybe we could go out and do something again, try to get the ending right this time."

"Yeah?" she asked, the corners of her lips pulling up just slightly.

"Yeah," he said, shooting her a bright smile.

"What?"

"I don't know, I didn't think that far," he said, taking his hand back, "I'll get back to you tomorrow on that."

"Sure," she gave him a real smile and rubbed the wetness from her eyes.

"What happened to your violin anyways?" he asked, "You didn't come back with it."

"Had to give it to Charon," she told him.

"Ah, that burns," he nodded with a knowing grin.

"Mmm," she nodded in agreement and laughed a little. With a sigh she reached up a hand for his shoulder, kneading her thumb into the muscle above his collar bone, "Thanks so much for coming by Herry."

"No problem," he said, forcing himself to keep cool under her touch, somehow hide the hammering of his heart. She smiled and invited herself onto his lap. He sucked in a sharp breath through his nose, freezing as she settled her head down against his chest. It took him a moment to relax again against the wall. Gingerly he wrapped his arms around her and welcomed her warmth as his own. This was actually quite comfortable, he realized once his nerves settled. He hummed out a content sigh and leaned his chin on top of her head. He could get use to this.

* * *

Theresa and Jay walked down the dimly lit alleyway to the decrepit man sitting on a stool beside a magazine stand. The Oracle smiled and welcomed them without looking up from the article he was reading.

"That always weirds me out," Jay leaned over to whisper in Theresa's ear.

"Oracle," she ignored Jay and returned the greeting.

"What brings you here?"

"We just had a question Oracle," Jay said.

"We've met another descendent," Theresa said, "and we were just wondering if she could help us at all in the battle with Cronus. She brought back her father from the underworld."

"Oracle," Jay said, holding out the old tarnished pendent he had taken from her weeks ago, "I was thinking we could use her skills to distract Cronus, give us an opening to push him through a trap."

"Hmm, ah, yes, a descendent of Orpheus," he said in thought, "she's very talented, yes. I see a very calming aura. Very calm." With that he handed the pendent back.

"Huh?" Jay exchanged glances with Theresa.

"Is that all?" the Oracle asked.

"But Oracle," Theresa piped, "what about the question."

"That is what I see to your question," he said, ever patient, "calmness."

"Okay, thank you," Jay said and whispered into Theresa's ear as they turned, "I think."

"What do you think that means?" Theresa asked as they strolled off back from where they had come.

"I don't know, maybe it just means there's always calmness around her, she does seem like a peaceful person," Jay offered.

"Maybe it means the calmness of when Cronus is back in Tartarus," Theresa said. Jay hummed in reluctant agreement. They walked back to the brownstone together in tense silence. The anniversary of their fight with Cronus was closing in on them fast. School was ending for the Christmas break at the end of the week, seventeen days burned red on Jay's calendar.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

A white envelope popped in front Opal's face as she wrestled to free her lunch box from her bag hung in her locker. She ceased her struggling to send over a curious glance, Herry returned it with a smirk.

"What's this?" she asked and gently took it from him.

"You wanted to go out again, Arch gave me a good idea," he sent her a crooked smile before he turned to walk down the hall, as he strolled away he called, "Dress up." Opal watched him go in confusion. Tickets, it was probably tickets, she realized looking back down at the envelope, but to what? Curiosity peaking she wormed her thumb under the edge and began to rip it open. About halfway open someone placed a hand on her forearm and she jumped in surprise.

"Hey Opal," she looked up to see Jay smiling at her.

"Oh, hey," she offered politely.

"Are you busy right now?" he asked.

"Umm," she looked down at her envelope and then shook her head with a sigh, "not really."

"Good, I want you ask you something, come back to the secret wing with me?" he asked gently.

"Okay," she ventured slowly, folding the envelope to place in her back pocket. Quietly she followed Jay through the halls of the school, watching his confident strides. He led her to the back of the school and through the janitor closet's portal. It was still breathtaking on her second visit.

"I want you to meet Hera," he told her as they rounded corners.

"Oh," she managed to respond. The Queen of the Gods Hera, oh dear lord why did he want to bring her to Hera? He came up to a double door and pushed their high and heavy frame open. Lounging on a couch under a draping canopy in the middle of the sunlit room was The Queen of the Gods, stroking one of her peacocks.

"Jay," she said and rose to her feet.

"Hera," he bowed his head and then gestured over to Opal, "This is Opal."

"Yes," she gave the girl a warm smile, "Jay seems to think you would be a good addition to my team of heroes."

"What?" she asked quietly and unbelieving, "Like the defeat Cronus team?"

"Yeah, I think you'd be a great addition," he nodded.

"Oh, I don't know," she held up her hands and stepped back, "I've seen you all fight, I can't do that."

"You returned from the underworld," Jay said.

"That's different," she defended, "He was in trouble, he needed me…" _and I failed him._

Jay sighed, his shoulders hunching as he held out his palms, "Opal, I am sorry about your father, I really am, but only heroes step up like that. If there's any way to get some kind of revenge for his death, it's by defeating the source of all this, Cronus."

"We'll have Athena set you up a room in the brownstone," Hera stated, like the decision was made.

"What?" she snapped, her heart starting to pound, "My mom just lost my father, I can't leave her too."

"Yes, I can respect that, you don't have to live with us to help us," Jay patted her on the shoulder, "We could really use you. How about you come to our next training session?"

"I guess," she mumbled, "Umm, can I go back now?"

Jay exchanged glances with the goddess and she nodded. Gently Jay led her out of the room and back to the public section of the school. Alone in the hall she leaned against the wall, mind numb. What was she going to do about this? There was something in her gut that was nagging; telling her she had to, it was a duty. The same feeling she had when her father was in trouble, the conscious of a hero. She shook her head and pushed off of the wall, they didn't need her. There was little she could contribute to Jay's team.

With a sigh she reached back to her pocket and tugged out the envelope to open the rest of the way. She pulled out a pair of admission tickets for the New Olympian Auditorium. A broad smile pulled across her face when she read the title of the show, Tchaikovsky, a famous Russian composer from the nineteenth century, one of the classics. This was obviously all for her. She highly doubted Herry had a burning desire to attend the performance of a classical symphony. And orchestra seats, impressive Herry. With a gleeful smile she tucked the tickets back into the envelope and started off for her locker. She should use the last ten minutes of her lunch period to actually eat lunch.

* * *

The afternoon of her day couldn't have gone more slowly, Opal couldn't wait to get home. She wanted to look through her closet for something. She loved wearing cute little dresses, but never had a reason to. This was such a nice distraction from her grief. She would not feel guilty about going on with her life even if her father was no longer in it, she just had to keep reminding herself that. Rounding the corner of the hallway with her locker she spotted Theresa leaning against Herry's. Two of her other friends were there, Atlanta and Neil, so she just assumed they were waiting for him.

As she was walking up to her locker, keeping to herself, Theresa turned to her and said, "So, Herry's taking you to the auditorium?"

"Yeah," she replied shortly, a little irritated with the interruption of her quiet privacy.

"Atlanta and I were thinking you might need something to wear," she continued, "we can all go to the mall together."

"Ah," Atlanta butted in, "No, you thought that and dragged me along."

"Actually, I don't need anything," Opal said to Theresa.

"But you have to have something new for a date," she insisted.

"She is right about that," Neil added, snapping his fingers.

"Whatever losers, I'm with her on this one, you don't need to get a new thing for every occasion" Atlanta scoffed at her two friends, turning to Opal she said, "I want to get to know you better, Herry's like my brother, I need to make sure you're not going to stomp on his heart."

Opal pressed her lips together as she thought. She really didn't need anything, but she should make an effort to get to know Herry's friends, and Theresa was so adamant about ramming into her life. She offered a small smile and said, "Sure, I'll go."

"Really?" Theresa said, dumbstruck for a moment, "Alright, let's go then." She linked her arm with Opal's and led her out into the parking lot of the school for her car.

* * *

Opal quietly looked through a rack of dresses, seeing nothing that really grabbed her. Atlanta was leaning against the rack that Theresa was looking through, on a tangent about how dresses are so restricting. How are you supposed to fight monsters in them?

"Atlanta, you don't have to wear the dress," Theresa responded to her rant.

"I'm just saying," she straightened and began flicking through the garments on the racks, "And where did Neil go?"

"Over here," he called and Opal followed the other girls' gaze over to the model posing in the mirror by a hat stand. He grabbed a pink toque that was clearly meant for a woman as he turned to face them. He stuck the winter hat on his head and struck a confident pose, hands on his hips and sent them a smug smile.

"Oh yeah Neil, looks good," Atlanta said sarcastically.

"That's because I look good in everything?" he dismissed her with a sigh and placed the hat back on the rack. He strutted over to where Opal was and looked at the dress she had pulled out from the others, "Oh, honey, no. That colour just wouldn't go with your skin tone, you need something soft." He began shifting through the rack and quickly found one. He pulled out the light pink garment and handed it over to her.

"I don't know Neil," Theresa said and brought over a black dress, "Classic, can't go wrong with a black dress."

"Nope," Neil shook his head, "it's too dark, I'm telling you that one is perfect."

Theresa glared at him.

"Why don't I just try them on," Opal suggested quietly, before the two fashion experts bit each other's heads off.

"Perfect," Neil broke into a wide smile and guided the small girl over to the change rooms by her shoulders. She sent him a wide eyed look from over her shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice her discomfort with his proximity. He nudged her into a stall and closed the door.

"Okay," she breathed out quietly, what a weird guy. She put both dresses on the hooks on the wall and decided to try the black one on first. It clung to her tightly, accentuating her curves, especially her hips. She looked at herself in the mirror, standing awkwardly as she picked at the frills of the miniskirt. It was a cute dress, and on someone that had a more confident body image it would look beautiful, but Opal just couldn't hold herself high enough to pull it off. Quickly she tore out of it and took up the pink one. She had passed this one on the rack, hadn't thought twice about it because there was nothing about it that really made it stand out. She slipped the cool silk over her head and straightened out the soft material of the skirt before she looked up to the mirror.

Her breath caught in surprise, was that really her? Unbelieving she stepped closer to examine herself. It fell flat on her stomach, sat gently on her hips. Opal lifted her arms to see better how it lay on her body. The soft design and fabric complemented her figure and round features magnificently, creating a smooth hourglass. The dress was spaghetti strapped with a scooped neck line that didn't show a great deal of cleavage, coming down to just above her knees. The skirt waved gently around her legs from her hips down as she moved. Everything about it was perfect, made her actually feel like she looked amazing.

"You got it on Opal?" Theresa called from the other side of the door.

"Uh, yeah," she answered.

"Well come on, let's see," she prompted.

Nervously Opal sucked in a breath and twisted the doorknob. She stood in the doorway, clasping her hands in front of her and looking down to her flip flops, the blue of her shoes not complementing the dress in the slightest.

"See," Neil brushed up to her and tossed an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her to his side, "I told you it was perfect." Opal shrank down into herself with Neil's contact. Did the man not understand personal space and how you generally respected it with people you didn't really know?

"Yeah Neil, good pick," Theresa admitted reluctantly, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing out a breath to blow her bangs from her eyes.

He turned Opal around holding her upper arms in either hand and sent her a broad smile, "I know I'm a genius. You look great."

"Really?" she gave him a small smile, and reached up a hand to twirl a curl around her finger.

"Yeah," he winked, "Herry won't be able to keep it in his pants."

The blood in her face dropped all the way down to her toes, leaving her ghost white.

"Neil, stop tormenting her," Atlanta pulled the boy away and swooshed her back into the change room. She took in some deep breaths before she changed back into her regular clothes. She brought both dresses out with her, but dropped the black one with a pile of other rejects of the day.

"Let's go get some food after this," Atlanta said as she leaned against the counter while Opal checked out.

"But I need to get to check out _Wonder's _new clothing line," Neil protested.

"We can go after," Theresa scoffed and rolled her eyes. Neil pouted and followed them out of the store in a brood. They found an empty table in the buzzing food court and sat with their meals.

"Thanks for taking me," Opal said to them quietly.

"No problem," Theresa smiled sweetly and popped a fry into her mouth, "do you need anything else?"

"Don't think so," she shook her head, "I can take a pair of my mom's shoes."

Theresa nodded, "Now we just have to worry about Herry."

Atlanta spurted out her drink in a choked laugh, "He should have been the one you worried about in the first place, if he shows up in anything other than cargo shorts I'll be impressed."

Neil snickered in agreement.

"Anyways, I want to hit up the music store before we go," Atlanta remembered the errand she wanted to run, "Archie decided he wanted to lean guitar so I was going to pick up some music sheets for him."

"Aww, so sweet, getting your boyfriend gifts," Neil taunted.

"He's not my boyfriend," she said, tossing a finger in his face, cheeks flushing.

"Yeah, sure looks like that when you're kissing on the roof," he said with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes and looked to Opal, "Do you know how to play guitar?"

"Yeah," she said and added with a bit of remorse, "I have my own now."

"Good, Archie just got one, let me tell you he could really use all the help he can get, my ears would thank you if you would," Atlanta said and Opal laughed. The girl quickly covered her mouth with her hands. This was actually turning out to be kind of fun. She felt herself loosening up with these people. She never would have thought a simple shopping outing could plant the seed to a friendship.

"Alright," Neil said, interrupting Atlanta and Opal's conversation, "If you're done eating, can we go. I have things I need to get done."

"Neil," Atlanta rolled her eyes and got to her feet, "you don't _need_ to get them done." Opal surprised herself when she found herself laughing along with Theresa. Maybe, just maybe, they were starting to become her friends.

* * *

Hey guys,

Thanks for reading. I don't know if this chapter was too cliche with the dress shopping, but it was fun to start of the friendships with my OC and the canon characters so I hope you enjoyed it too.

I can't wait to get the next chapter finished and posted, having a great time writing it.

Later everyone.


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